


Best Served Cold

by killabeez, NinondeLenclos, rosa_himmelblau



Category: Wiseguy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 19:54:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9673673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killabeez/pseuds/killabeez, https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinondeLenclos/pseuds/NinondeLenclos, https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosa_himmelblau/pseuds/rosa_himmelblau
Summary: Two women whose lives were ruined.The man they blame.And maybe a ghost.This isn't going to end well.





	

Vinnie came to with the distinct, sinking awareness that he was in an unfamiliar car moving fast over a rough road, and that however he had gotten there, he had not gone willingly. His hands had been cuffed, not gently, to the door handle. His arms throbbed and his head felt like it had met up with the front grille of a Cadillac.

Training kept his eyes closed and his body still, faking continued unconsciousness while his other senses took inventory. His face was pressed into leather upholstery—not a good sign. The jarring of the car indicated a gravel surface under the tires. A window was open up front, and he could smell pine trees and no car exhaust. Somewhere in Jersey?

Somewhere far from home, for sure. The car smelled new, no cigar smoke seeped into the seats. But there was another fragrance, vaguely familiar . . . Diorissimo, he realized after a moment. He tried to remember a face to go with the scent, but came up blank.

"I used to come out here every summer when I was a kid." A woman's voice spoke quietly from the driver's seat, again teasingly familiar. Again, he couldn't quite place the memory. The tone had been sad, wistful—and plainly the words had not been directed at him. Two of them, then. He strained to hear, but there was no answer from the passenger seat. Diorissimo, and a voice he almost knew . . . .

The grim thought came that since he'd left the OCB, it could be as much as two days before anyone missed him. His mother was staying with her sister over the weekend, and if it was still Saturday, no one on the planet would be looking for him before Monday evening. Vinnie decided to risk a peek. Cracking one eye, he instantly regretted it. Daylight lanced into his throbbing head like a spike. Drugged, he thought, realizing he couldn't remember anything after he'd pulled up in front of his house. How long ago? It had been early, not long after seven. That merciless bolt of sunshine had felt more like mid-afternoon.

When the pain receded to tolerable levels, he tried again, cautiously.

At first, all he saw was white. Gradually the brightness gained texture, and he realized it was the car that was white, luminous white leather interior, white carpet, white trim. He thought for a moment he might be dreaming, but then the car jounced over a deep rut and pain lanced up the back of his neck and through his left eyeball. Dreams never felt like that. This was real, and he was in trouble. _Maybe I've been kidnapped by angels,_ he thought disjointedly. It made him think of Pete, as everything seemed to these days, and the still-fresh pain sobered him. Pete would no doubt disapprove of the idea of angels driving a car with leather seats.

Opening the other eye a crack, Vinnie followed the line of the front seat up and over until he could see the back of the driver's head. A cloud of thick, dark hair obscured the woman's profile. Frustrated, he shifted a little, trying to get a glance at the passenger seat. The cuffs made movement difficult. Just then, the car hit another bump and he couldn't help a faint exhalation of pain.

The passenger of the car turned, looking down at him over the back of the seat, big blue eyes turning up at the corners. "Vinnie, good, you're awake. Just in time, we're almost there."

The asylum had obviously suited her. Vinnie couldn't help thinking crazily that Susan Profitt had never looked so radiant. He managed to find his voice. "Susan! What's going on? Where are we?"

She only smiled. "I missed you, Vinnie. We're going to have such a wonderful time."

Trying to keep his apprehension under control, he tried the wide-eyed harmless look on her. He lifted his cuffed wrists. "Can't you let me outta these things? We can talk about it."

"Oh, we'll talk about it all right," said the driver, glancing at him in the rear view mirror. Dark eyes, Vinnie registered, but it was the undercurrent of hate he felt, a malicious intent that chilled his blood to ice, and made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. "We're going to have a nice long talk, just the three of us."

A second later it all came together, the perfume, the voice, the dark flashing eyes, and he knew her.

Theresa Baglia. Driving him farther and farther from civilization. A madwoman riding shotgun.

Vinnie quietly began to panic.

*

It wasn't long before the car stopped and Theresa turned off the ignition. Vinnie heard another car stop somewhere nearby and the slamming of car doors. Theresa and Susan got out of the car and a man he'd never seen before got in the driver's side and powered down the back window above Vinnie's head. Then he got out and came around, leaning in the window. "You want to do this the easy way, or you want some persuasion?" he asked, showing Vinnie a gun. "Makes no difference to me."

"What do you want me to do?" Vinnie asked.

"Out of the car and into the house. You try anything, you'll be missing your knees." He unlocked the cuffs, releasing him from the car, but not freeing his hands.

Vinnie sat up unsteadily, the pain in his head coming back. "Where are we?"

"I'm not paid to answer your questions. Outta the car."

_I should make a run for it,_ Vinnie thought, pulling himself unsteadily from the car. _Or maybe a hobble for it._ He thought of that Callahan cartoon, a posse coming across an overturned wheelchair in the desert, the leader saying, "He can't have gotten far on foot." With his head doing cartwheels, his hands cuffed, his legs weak from the long ride— _was it a long ride? How long?_ —he wasn't in much better shape than the guy in the wheelchair.

He stood leaning against the car, and the man with the gun waited silently. Vinnie looked around at the deep green of late summer, feeling like he'd been taken to summer camp against his will.

"Bring him in the house." Theresa Baglia's peremptory tone let Vinnie know exactly who was in charge.

_What the hell is going on?_

"Come on." The man grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the house, the gun jammed into his ribs.

_We're in the woods; in the middle of nowhere; no telephone poles, no electrical lines, no nothing._ The cabin itself could hardly be called that; it was like a millionaire's version of a little getaway place.

"Where are we?" he asked as soon as he was inside.

"Mel bought this place years ago, as a precaution. Two hundred square miles of nothing, with a beautiful house in the middle. We're completely safe." Susan said.

I'm not, Vinnie thought in a sudden blind panic.

"We have a generator for lights and cooking, and plenty of bottled water. And the pantry is stocked, of course." Susan sounded like a tour guide.

"What it boils down to is, you're here unless we say you can leave," Theresa said, sounding a little impatient. "Take him to his room," she said to the man with the gun.

Vinnie was dragged up a flight of stairs, to a beautifully light, airy bedroom that could have come out of House and Gardens. He was shoved down onto the bed, his hands cuffed to the solid brass bedframe. Then the man held his right arm still while Theresa stuck a needle in it.

"Wait outside," Theresa said to the gunman, and when they were alone she took a chair next to the bed. "We have a lot to talk about, but first you need to understand the ground rules. I'm going to be sending Jimmy home, but I don't want you to get the idea that because you're here alone with two women that that means you'll be leaving whenever you choose. So before you go doing anything stupid, consider a few things. Two hundred acres of uncharted wilderness. A house with the most sophisticated alarm system money can buy. I'm armed, and I wouldn't have the slightest qualm about putting as many bullets in you as it took to stop you. So this is the way it's going to work. There are videocameras throughout this room; there's no place you can go to get away from them. The same with the connecting bathroom. After you go back to sleep, you'll be uncuffed and when you wake up, you'll have complete freedom as far as these two rooms. But the first time you try anything, I'll put a bullet in your kneecap and we'll cuff you to the bed for good. At that point you'll be catheterized and put on a liquid diet for the remainder of your stay. Is that clear enough?"

_What do you say when a woman asks you a question like that?_ "Yes, ma'am."

She smiled. "Good. Enjoy your nap."

*

Theresa stood calmly preparing dinner as Susan paced back and forth. "I don't know why we have to keep him locked up like that."

"You've been talking to him, haven't you?" Theresa answered in a tone that suggested she'd been expecting something just like this.

Susan whirled around, "So what if I have? It's not like there's anyplace he can run to or hide."

"What did he do? Put on that sincere face he does so well, remind you of all the times you were together, promise not to try anything if you'd only help him. Susan, wake up! You weren't the first person Vinnie fooled with that routine of his. He uses seduction like my father's men used guns." Theresa didn't elaborate any further, but from the coldness of her tone Susan sensed she wasn't talking from personal experience.

*

Dinner that night was a surreal affair. Susan had set up a table in Vinnie's bedroom, brought in some chairs, and they waited for Theresa. Within minutes she'd brought in their plates, went back for hers, then sat down smiling. Sitting there chatting amiably you'd think she was hostess at an ordinary dinner party. At first Vinnie was hesitant to touch his food. But he was starving, the dinner smelled wonderful, and soon he was digging in. Sonny had bragged that his fiancee was a wonderful cook and after a few bites Vinnie could tell that Sonny hadn't been exaggerating in the least.

Even so, Vinnie couldn't relax too much since Theresa had to be up to something. But what was her game? Sonny had said Theresa was smart as a whip and that she'd keep him on his toes. Now Vinnie was beginning to understand all too well what Sonny had meant. So far the conversation had been trivial chitchat, nothing out of the ordinary. Certainly not a word about why he was here. But halfway through dessert, things changed. Slowly but surely he was beginning to have problems making his eyes focus. And although he could still hear them clearly, Vinnie couldn't see Theresa and Susan's mouths move anymore.

"Livia favored mushrooms. But the right ones are hard to find and the effects are so unpredictable. Too much or too little and we wouldn't get the result we want." Theresa got up, stepped around the table, and looked into Vinnie's now glassy eyes. "What I used came highly recommended and now I can see why."

_So that's it, they've poisoned me,_ Vinnie managed to think even though his head felt like it was stuffed full of cotton. The name _Livia_ somehow seemed familiar too, but where he heard it he had no idea. Still, Theresa hadn't given him one word of explanation so he forced himself to concentrate and croaked out a single word, "Why?"

"Yes, I imagined by now you'd be wondering about that. Should we tell him, Susan? Or should we let him figure it out on his own? . . . no, you're right. Even though he's a lying bastard we ought to tell him the truth."

From the icy tone in her voice Vinnie was getting a sinking feeling about just what that truth was. "I know it's been awhile and you've moved on, but I'm sure you remember Sonny's bachelor party. After all, you **were** his best friend." Now the venom in Theresa's voice was unmistakable.

"As they were carrying my father away after the raid he couldn't stop trying to piece together what happened. From decades in the business my father had learned that cops never mounted a raid that big unless they were positive about what they'd find. There's too much red tape and hassle involved to make it worthwhile for less than a major haul. But from the questions they asked him and the others later on, the OCB knew exactly what to expect when they arrived at the hotel. My wedding was supposed to be a private function so how did the OCB know the guest list for it and Sonny's bachelor party ahead of time? The way my father saw it there was only one explanation. Someone on the inside had to have betrayed Sonny. So he started checking. With a couple of exceptions, everyone working for Sonny had been with him for a long time and had proven their loyalty many times over, were either arrested in the raid as well, or had solid alibis. His first reaction was to suspect Sid. Sid was a snake, and anybody working for Patrice was dangerous. But eventually he rejected him too. Not so much because Sid tried to make a deal afterwards, that could have been merely a ploy to cover up a pre-existing arrangement. No, he finally passed on Sid since Sid had no motive. That weasel would've enjoyed seeing Sonny arrested, but Sid would have profited tremendously when Patrice took over Atlantic City. So why would he jeopardize that by bringing in the OCB?

"Am I holding your interest, Vinnie? We can get you some coffee to help you stay awake." As Theresa slowly walked around the table and Susan sat there silently, Vinnie started to feel like a mouse being toyed with by a cat. Despite her cold manner, he could tell Theresa was enjoying this and he dreaded what he knew would come next. Or finding out why she was always referring to her father in the past tense.

"So that left only one candidate. Even though Sonny vouched for you, my father had a thing about not trusting anyone he hadn't known for years and years. And ninety-day wonders like you, Vinnie, were even more suspicious in his book. So he started checking around and calling in some markers of his. He was only expecting to find that you were just some guy with an outstanding warrant against him who was trying to save himself by selling out. So you can imagine his surprise when he discovered the truth. That you, Vinnie Terranova, were an OCB agent.

"Suddenly everything fell into place. But just as it did, my father had a heart attack. His health had been failing for years and no one had to tell him this was it. Even before we got engaged my father had always considered Sonny as his second son. So when somebody betrayed him and caused his death my father's course was clear. He would avenge Sonny and to him it didn't make any difference that you were a Fed. But my father knew he'd never leave the hospital this time. We didn't know where Aldo was, even if he was still alive so he couldn't let my brother handle it. That left only me."

Theresa poured another glass of wine and sat down, a satisfied look on her face. Vinnie didn't need to hear anymore, this was revenge pure and simple. She'd placed the loss of her fiancee, father, and brother on his head; it'd be hopeless trying to change her mind. Sonny said she was determined once she set her mind on something and suddenly pictures of himself being strung up by the heels filled Vinnie's head.

At that moment the drug finally overcame him and he slumped on the table. "Looks like Vinnie had too much wine with dinner," Theresa said. "Let's get him back to his bed."

*

At first Vinnie just sat, eating popcorn waiting for the movie to start. But when the lights went down and the curtains came back the screen was blank. The theatre was utterly dark, not even an exit sign. He looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.

The projector came on, lighting up the stage, and Sonny walked out from behind the curtain at the side. "You know who Livia was, right?"

Vinnie just stared at him, not knowing what to say. Sonny snapped his fingers. "Come on, you know your history, right? All that education, you gotta know something." He gave Vinnie a long, disgusted look. "Livia, wife of Augustus Caesar. She was married to another man and pregnant when Augustus first spotted her, but he had to have her. They were a devoted couple even though Augustus had frequent flings on the side." He gave Vinnie a pointed look. "She was very determined to protect his interests and used whatever methods were necessary. Poison, **accidental** killings, you name it. She was very shrewd and he valued her opinions." He grinned. "The perfect wife."

Sonny stepped down off the stage and walked over to sit in the seat in front of Vinnie and turned around to look at him. "What **did** they teach you in school, anyway?"

"You're dead."

"You went to med school?"

"What're you doing here?"

"Me? I'm just enjoying the show."

"What show?"

"Hey, you're the star and you gotta ask? I dunno about the other one, but Theresa's gonna have you for lunch."

Vinnie stood up. "I'm not staying here."

"Where you gonna go?"

"I don't know. I don't care. I don't have to stay—"

"You keep running, but where you gonna go?"

"You were the one who was running! I was chasing you!"

Sonny followed him up the aisle. "Well, you caught me. Now what?"

Vinnie turned around. "Now nothing! I caught you! It's over, you're dead, it's over!"

"Then what'm I doing here? What're you doing here?"

"I don't know."

"Sure you do. Quit lying to yourself and say it; you're here 'cause **you** screwed up."

"That's not true!"

"Then you tell me," Sonny challenged.

"What're **you** doing here?" Vinnie demanded.

"I'm here 'cause you want me here. Why else would I be here? You think I hang around where I'm not wanted?"

Vinnie gave him a shove. "Then get out!"

"You wanna fight again?" Sonny pushed him. "Huh?" Another push. "What would that prove? You wanna punch my lights out 'cause you want me to leave, or are we talkin' foreplay here?"

He wanted to turn away, but Sonny's eyes held him, his look exciting him as it always had. "Just leave me alone," he said finally.

Sonny waved toward the lobby. "Go. I won't bother you."

But Vinnie couldn't move. Or he didn't want to. He wasn't sure, and the confusion was making him angry. Finally he swung on Sonny, connecting solidly, knocking him down.

"Feel better?" Sonny asked, starting to get up, but Vinnie threw himself at him, just wanting him to shut up, shut up!

They rolled around in the aisle, hitting each other as best they could with no proper leverage, managing to hurt each other mostly incidentally, but frustrating themselves and raising the anger to a fever pitch.

Vinnie got Sonny pinned down, intending to end this fight, win it, when Sonny grabbed his hair and pulled his face down, first kissing him, then biting his bottom lip, hard. "I wanna taste your blood," he murmured, licking the wound, sucking it.

Vinnie jerked away, but Sonny's eyes drew him back and Vinnie kissed him.

"This's what you want, right? This's why you keep comin' back here?" Sonny asked. He arched up against Vinnie provocatively. "Whaddaya want, huh?"

"Shut up," Vinnie whispered.

"Tell me what you want an' it's yours. That's the way it always was, right? Most times you didn't even have to ask—"

The friction was getting to Vinnie and he shifted to make better contact. Sonny smiled knowingly. "You think if you say no, that's the end of it? Doesn't matter if you say yes, no or maybe; you can't get rid of me for one reason an' we both know what it is. So why not get what you want?"

He was on his stomach, Sonny on top of him, fucking him hard, whispering in his ear, a soft chant matching the rhythm of this thrusts. "All I need is love—"

Vinnie writhed underneath him—

"All I want is love—"

the heat in his groin building to a crescendo—

"Love me early in the mornin'—"

rising furiously, uncontrollably—

"Love me late at night—"

he bucked his hips, wanting more—

"Love—"

needing more—

"Love—"

so close to the edge he could touch it—

"Love—love—love—love—love—"

He could feel the rhythm of their passion vibrating up through the floor, could hear it pounding in his ears.

"This is it," Sonny whispered, and so close to the edge Vinnie could feel himself pulled back; the pounding wasn't from Sonny's fucking him but from the door, someone trying to break down the door.

"It was your choice," Sonny said, and was gone.

Vinnie woke violently in his disheveled bed, his hand on his aching erection. Trying to cling only to the furious heat of the dream and not the ending, he finished himself, crying out as he came. "Dammit . . . dammit." He wrapped himself around his pillow for comfort.

"I didn't kill you, Sonny. I didn't."

*

It was that dream again, the one she hated. The one where it was her wedding day, and she was late, but she couldn't find Sonny and everyone she knew had suddenly forgotten how to speak Italian and she couldn't remember how to speak English. She ran from room to room in her mother's house, but no one could understand her. They just kept eating hors d'oeuvres, smiling sadly in their dark suits, their somber dresses.

It took a long time, but finally Theresa was able to will herself awake. For a moment the strange bed, the unfamiliar room threw her. But then she remembered: the Profitt's upstate retreat. A promise to her father, to Sonny's memory.

Vinnie.

She tried closing her eyes, but the dream lit the edges of consciousness like a tiny lamp in a darkened room, making sleep impossible, and at last she swung her feet to the floor. Pulling her robe on, she went out into the hallway.

A soft light spilled out across the wood floor from a doorway at the end of the hall. Theresa padded toward it, frowning slightly. She didn't quite know what to make of the Profitt woman. A damaged soul, no doubt about that. When Theresa's informant had given her the story of Vinnie's most recent exploits, the mention of Mel Profitt's institutionalized sister had immediately attracted her interest. Here was a woman she could understand, a woman she could empathize with. She'd gone on with her plans, but the image of Susan Profitt locked up somewhere, paying the price of having known one Vinnie Terranova, wouldn't leave her alone.

When she'd finally met her, that afternoon in the sunny, vaguely horrifying dayroom of that place they called a 'home,' they'd talked of their brothers, and for a while Susan had been perfectly lucid—and perfectly tragic. When Theresa asked her about Vinnie, the momentary wounded expression of faith betrayed on Susan's face had been devastatingly familiar. Bringing her had seemed like a good idea.

Yesterday, Susan had been like a schoolgirl on the first day of summer vacation, almost radiantly happy to get the chance at a little freedom. But watching her with Vinnie was disconcerting. She seemed to have no memory at all of Terranova's betrayal, and her preoccupation with the man bordered on obsession. Until this afternoon, Susan's passivity had been so profound that Theresa had believed her eminently controllable. But now . . . . Susan worried her. She was too susceptible to that Terranova charm.

Theresa reached the study at the end of the hall, and was not surprised to find Susan curled up in the oversized office chair, eyes fixed on the monitor. On the screen their guest slept on, oblivious.

Susan's arms were wrapped tightly around her knees, and judging by the dark circles under her eyes, she had been there most of the night. Something about the way she sat hunched like that, as if seeking refuge . . . it occurred to Theresa for the first time that the chair must have belonged to the brother, Mel.

"Susan," she began quietly.

"Shh." Susan's eyes never left the screen. "Watch."

On the monitor, Vinnie stirred. A faint, oddly pained sound escaped his lips, and one hand clenched into a fist on top of the tangled sheets.

Theresa found herself watching, captivated in spite of herself. Even asleep, there was something compelling about the man. The drugs seemed to be affecting him badly. Sweat gleamed on his face and tensed limbs, and he had tossed off most of the bed coverings. They'd taken his clothing away from him; what remained of the bedclothes left little to the imagination. One strong, bare thigh lay exposed. The hand that was not clenched in a fist lay curled against his mouth, as if to muffle his distress. She could see the scar where Aldo had shot him, and it brought her a distinct surge of satisfaction.

"How long's he been like that?" Theresa found herself speaking softly, though of course there was no one to hear them.

"Not long." Susan's voice had that distant, dreamy quality it got when she had gone away, deep inside herself. She spoke as though she had a wonderful secret, one that she might share if persuaded by the right person. "I think he's dreaming about me."

Just then, Vinnie stirred, brows drawn together as if some demon stalked him along the corridors of his own mind. The fitful motion drew the sheet tighter across his hips. An odd, hot little current jabbed at Theresa's belly as she realized he was hard under the thin cotton. Unthinking, she took a step closer to the screen.

Vinnie grew increasingly restless as they watched, face drawn and body tense. He muttered something incomprehensible, left fist faintly clenching and unclenching. Suddenly he shuddered as if trying to shake the hold the nightmare had on him, and said clearly, " . . . you're dead, it's over!"

Theresa caught her breath. And suddenly knew, without a doubt, that Vinnie's dream had nothing at all to do with the woman sitting beside her.

She wanted to look away, but found herself incapable of it, seized as she was with a sudden, irrational jealousy. She never dreamed of Sonny, never. What wouldn't she have given to have even that much of him? It wasn't fair that even now Vinnie should have more of him, know more of him than she did.

The dream seemed to be bringing him no gratification, though. The look on his face was more like tortured pleading, the tension in his sprawled body more like pain.

Beside her, Susan leaned forward, nudging up the monitor's volume control. "Who's he talking to?" The dreamy quality had left her voice. A thread of something else, something darker, rose in its place, but Theresa Baglia was too caught up in what was happening on the monitor to notice.

"Sonny," she breathed without thinking.

Almost as if responding to the name, Vinnie gave a soft, despairing sob. As if something broke free in him with the sound, his head fell back. One hand, the hand that had been curled near his mouth, snaked down under the sheet. Chills, alternating hot and cold, swept over Theresa as she watched, unable to help herself. And slowly, as if it hurt him, Vinnie twisted his free hand into the sheets and began to arch into his own touch.

"Vinnie," Susan said softly. She was balanced precariously on the edge of the big executive chair. Her hands were clenched on the desk in front of her.

It went on for an agonizing span of seconds, the man on the screen lost in what was obviously a desperately painful and urgent need. No pleasure touched Vinnie Terranova's face. Caught up in his own driving rhythm, he looked as though he were being flayed alive. At last his throat broke open in a desolate cry, perhaps for mercy — and he woke violently, shaking. Too late. The orgasm took him as if against his will and he cursed it, even as release shuddered through him.

Theresa averted her gaze, but she'd already seen far more than she wanted to, far more than she should have. Shaken, unable to look at the other woman, she turned and fled to the relative safety of the hallway. But though she tried not to recognize what she'd seen and heard at the very last, the image and the words were burned into her memory. She didn't know if she would ever be able to erase them.

"I didn't kill you, Sonny. I didn't," he'd whispered, holding to his pillow for dear life.

And those wide, innocent, betraying blue eyes had been wet with tears.

*

Theresa turned in her bed, but sleep wouldn't come. When she had been planning this, everything had seemed clear. She'd promised her father she would find Vinnie and pay him back for what he did to Sonny. Vinnie'd taken from her the very person she'd wanted for almost half her life and her father had known he could count on her to carry out his plans. But now that she was getting her revenge, it wasn't as sweet as she'd hoped. No matter what she did here, Sonny would still be lost to her forever. And Vinnie. Theresa had no doubt that her father was right when he said Vinnie was Sonny's betrayer. For that alone he deserved to suffer. Yet that cry of anguish she'd heard was too naked, too painful to have come from a cold-hearted Judas.

As she lay there in the dark, it seemed as if the Theresa who'd arrived at the hotel dressed all in white was another person, so much had changed in her life since that day. The events were sharply etched in her memory, yet every time she thought about them or the months during her engagement it was like watching another person, someone who was happy and eagerly looking forward to marriage. Now that person didn't exist anymore, and the man responsible for it was sleeping just down the hall.

The first time she'd ever seen Vinnie was at the St. Genesius benefit when Sonny had finally asked her to marry him. They'd been doing their usual flirting; it was a game they'd played for years and she looked forward to it as much as she suspected Sonny did. Afterwards she'd gone back to laying the buffet table and Sonny rejoined the main group. But she couldn't help looking at him every so often and her friend Marie had kept kidding her about it. A few minutes later she recognized Sonny's voice arguing with someone and she saw him telling off some dark haired man sitting beside him.

About a week after their engagement was formalized she'd gone to Sonny's office to take him out to lunch. It wasn't planned, but she knew Sonny was close to a workaholic, so she wanted to get him out of the office for a change. Walking in unannounced she'd been surprised to see that same dark haired guy who Sonny had had the fight with sitting there, relaxing with him now. Furthermore, Sonny and this man seemed to be good friends. Well, she'd heard stories that Sonny was facing some serious competition right now, so perhaps the argument had been part of some scheme of his. But what really puzzled her was that Sonny made such a point of introducing her to Vinnie, and him to her. Over the years she had occasionally served espresso and torta di noci when her father had had some of his men to the house for meetings. She'd known what they were, of course, but her father had **never** introduced them, nor did he ever want her to have anything to do with them.

But suddenly here was Sonny introducing her to a man she knew had to be closely involved in his business. Later, during lunch, he'd talked about Vinnie and the things they'd done in such glowing terms that she became sure the argument was merely something staged. Growing up the way she had, she knew men like her father and Sonny always kept their seconds close at hand. No one could see everything, and having a sharp-eyed, dependable right hand was necessary in this business. In the Life, games and manipulation were the rule, not the exception. So the idea that Sonny and Vinnie had orchestrated a public spat for some reason seemed completely plausible.

She had soon come to see that Vinnie was far more than a mere employee of Sonny's, that he and Sonny were genuine friends. At first it happened only occasionally, but before long Vinnie was frequently having dinner with them. And a couple of times when Sonny had come into town to see her, Vinnie had hitched a ride so he could visit his mother. She was impressed by any grown man who kept in such close contact with his mother. Until her death a few years ago, Sonny had treated his mother like a queen, and she had found that one of his most endearing qualities. So this was another point in Vinnie's favor.

One afternoon Sonny had taken the afternoon off and he and Vinnie took her to a Yankees game. She wasn't the big baseball fan Sonny was (he talked about the Mick all the time when he was young), but she was still enjoyed the game. A lot of people thought baseball was boring, but she enjoyed the leisurely pace. The periodic big plays kept the excitement level up and it was intriguing watching the strategy of the opposing clubs. But the best thing was that there was plenty of time to just talk, and after that lazy afternoon in the sun she felt she was really getting to know Vinnie. In many ways he seemed to be a lot like Sonny and she could see why they hit it off they way they did.

And she had been glad then, since real friendships were all too rare for guys like Sonny. Just the nature of the Life made it imperative that Sonny move cautiously when opening himself up to other people. When Dave was around it wasn't really a problem, since Dave was someone he could trust completely. Dave and Sonny had had dinner at her parents'] often over the years and it was easy to see how close they were. So she wasn't the least surprised when Sonny had ordered that his brother's funeral be delayed a week until he could recover enough to attend himself. Except for another brother long ago deported to Sicily, Dave was the last family Sonny had left and he'd been devoted to his big brother. Losing Dave so suddenly had devastated him, but it seemed like Vinnie was filling that void in a lot of ways.

Even though she could tell Sonny was eager for the ceremony to take place, it still was six weeks before the date had finally arrived. Her mother, Dona Carmela, had had her heart set on her only daughter having an elaborate church wedding. Her father shared Sonny's sense of urgency, but no amount of her father's cajoling or Sonny's charm could change her mind. Anyone who thought all Mafia wives were the meek, submissive type had clearly never met her mother. Her father may have run his business with an iron hand, but at home and in matters of family it was Carmela who ruled the roost. And she had to agree with her mother. Since she'd been in love with Sonny for years she would have happily married him in a simple ceremony performed by a Justice of the Peace, but deep down she had always dreamed of a full Mass and four bridesmaids.

Things remained at an impasse, and after awhile she'd started to wonder if the wedding would ever come off. Finally Sonny had suggested an exclusive resort in upstate New York. He'd spent a couple of summers in the area when he was sixteen and seventeen attending some sort of boxing camp. He told Carmela about it, had shown her some pictures, and finally she relented. It wasn't a church like her mother had wanted, but the grounds were spectacular and the staff had a reputation for flawless service. And although no one was blunt enough to mention it, the total seclusion of the hotel would make it easy to provide the kind of security that some of her father's and Sonny's guests would demand.

The subsequent weeks were filled with planning, finding the perfect dress, arranging details. It was a lot of work, but the kind she was more than eager to do. She had first fallen for Sonny when she was fifteen and she could hardly believe she was finally getting him. So what if every now and then she had a vague sense that there was more going on here than she thought? She wasn't some starry-eyed schoolgirl; no woman knew **everything** about her fiance before they married. But she and Sonny had been good friends for a long time and friendship was important for any marriage. Plus she had understood the demands that being in the Mob put on him. She wasn't blind, and they'd certainly never discussed his business for good reasons, but just as her mother had done with her father, she would never expect Sonny to be like a guy with a regular nine-to-five job.

One afternoon she'd gone to Sonny's penthouse to meet him. They'd had an appointment at the jeweler's and she'd come by earlier than scheduled so she'd have extra time there to look for a present for Marie, her maid of honor. Noticing the front door was standing slightly open, she'd walked in to meet Vinnie coming out of Sonny's bedroom. Over the past few weeks she'd gotten to know Vinnie pretty well, and in spite of a nagging feeling about him, had become genuinely fond of him. Vinnie had an easygoing, relaxed personality that was easy to like and he'd always treated her with the perfect courtesy she was entitled to as Sonny's fiancee. Yet now he was acting like she had caught him at something that she wasn't supposed to know about. He mumbled something about Sonny sending him up here to pick up some papers and was out the front door as quickly as he could, trying not to be too obvious about it.

She had stood there, trying to understand what had just happened. Vinnie claimed Sonny'd sent him for papers, but he'd left without any. And the little he'd said didn't explain why he'd been coming out of Sonny's bedroom. Putting that mystery aside for the moment, she had started to look around the apartment.

Even though she'd come by once before, this was the first time she'd actually been inside, and, as she told herself, once they were married she'd be spending a lot of time here. Like Sonny himself, the decor was open and breezy with a distinctly modern touch. Of course they would have a proper house for their main residence; however spacious, a penthouse on top of a casino was no place to raise children. But looking around she decided she wouldn't mind spending time here at all. She had stepped out onto the terrace into brilliant sunshine and a fresh ocean breeze. Everyone joked that New Jersey was the toxic dump of the Northeast, but standing here she could see why Sonny loved it. From this high up she could see the coast stretching for miles in either direction, and after the closed up nature of New York City she could understand why this would appeal to him so.

After a few minutes of relaxing to the faint sound of the surf below she walked back inside. The wind had tossed her hair quite a bit so she went into the bathroom to repair the damage before she headed downstairs to look for her fiance. She'd been happy and contented, retouching her lipstick, when out of the corner of her eye she happened to spot two different bottles of shampoo sitting inside the shower. For some reason that struck her as odd and then she started to look around more directly. Naturally everything was spotless and stored away, but she soon saw that there were **twos** of all sorts of toiletries. Not merely duplicates, but different brands, as if more than one person were using them. She'd always known Sonny had had a lot of girlfriends over the years; most women just naturally liked him and she was sure he took full advantage of that fact. But here, something just wasn't ringing right. Frequent, different guests took their chances with soap and shampoos; this was a bathroom being used by two people on a regular basis.

Unbidden, unsettling, and refusing to back down, a possible answer crept into her head; one that she had refused to accept without more evidence than this. But she realized she'd never have any peace until she'd settled this one way or another, so she walked into Sonny's bedroom. Once again nothing had seemed out of the ordinary, not a thing out of place. Walking to his closet, she took a deep breath and pulled open the doors. There, neatly hanging amid the silk Brioni suits, was a weathered leather jacket. She'd known Sonny for over ten years and in all that time she had never seen him wearing a leather jacket; they weren't his style at all. Yet here in the midst of all Sonny's expensive clothes was a jacket she knew he wouldn't be caught dead in. Reaching for it, she pulled back the neck and saw from the size listed inside that it was plainly too large for Sonny.

Suddenly, with blinding clarity, everything came together. The intense friendship between Sonny and Vinnie that had developed almost overnight, the way Vinnie was able to saunter around the office in worn jeans and an old shirt when no one else could . . . .

. . . and that cryptic remark from the hotel maid. The first time she had come to the penthouse, it was to pick up Sonny to meet her parents for lunch. But just as she was reaching to push the bell, the door opened and one of the hotel's maids stepped out. She'd said Mr. Steelgrave wasn't in, but she might try looking for him at Mr. Terranova's since he was down there more often than he was home. The maid'd said it in a friendly way, but it had seemed like an odd statement; but before she could think anymore about it the elevator doors opened and Sonny stepped out. He apologized for being late, a business crisis that had had to be dealt with immediately. They had had to hurry to make their reservation, so she'd had no more time to think about it . . . until now. Had the maid's information been just a little friendly help, or had she been implying much more than she'd said? Staring at the jacket, she was sure she'd seen Vinnie wearing it.

Overwhelmed at the implications, she had sat down on the bed, her mind racing. Even with this new suspicion, she still loved Sonny. And from the way he'd kissed her, she had thought he felt the same way about her. But now, faced with evidence that her fiance and Vinnie were _more than just friends, _she wasn't so sure. She wasn't naive, relationships like this happened everyday.__

__She'd always known that part of the reason Sonny had asked her to marry him was because of her father and the influence he still had; that was simply part of being Joey Baglia's daughter, no matter who she married. She didn't mind that, political marriages were nothing new, and she was happy to help Sonny if she could. But if he meant to use her as an unwitting dupe to hide this relationship with Vinnie from the other Families, he'd better think again. Unless he gave her some compelling reason to stay, some indication that **she** was important to him, the wedding was off._ _

__Thankfully their conversation in the hotel's garden had settled things. She had decided not to directly mention anything she'd seen in Sonny's penthouse. If she had, it would've colored anything Sonny said afterwards, and she had to know what he really thought of her. If he felt she was trying to corner him, he'd say anything to get out, and she'd never know the truth. She might still marry him, but the resentment would start. She would resent him for lying, he would resent her for trying to force him, and their marriage would be poisoned before it ever started._ _

__So it was with a mixture of relief and sadness that she finally heard his explanation. She was happy to hear that he really did love her, but the brutal honesty of the rest ripped at her heart at the same time. For Sonny to admit to her how frightened he was of dying and disappearing without a trace told her more clearly than anything else how important she was to him. For as long as she had known him, cocky bravado had been the best way to describe Sonny. Not in the arrogant, smug way you'd usually think, but he had always exuded an air of self-confidence. She'd admired that, but now she found this sudden admission of fear from him even more appealing. Not because it made him weak, everyone with any heart at all felt this way at times, but because it showed just how much trust and confidence he had in her. In Sonny's world doubts and hesitation like this made you an easy target. So she knew he would never admit these feelings to anyone except the one or two people closest to him._ _

__Afterwards, she'd been so relieved. She'd been on the verge of calling everything off, but now she felt like she could still marry Sonny and be happy. She wasn't wild about the idea of sharing him with Vinnie, but now she was confident how important she was to Sonny. He did love her, she wasn't wrong about that, and there were things she could give Sonny Vinnie couldn't. Not that she had expected that he would've been totally faithful to her anyway. Relationships on the side were an integral part of high ranking mobsters' lives, just like guns and expensive clothes. It was an image thing, and so long as she was still sure of Sonny's affection and where she stood with him, she would have been willing to overlook the occasional dalliance._ _

__At that thought she'd laughed. Forget image—Vinnie would certainly never be part of her husband's ladies'-man persona. And while she couldn't watch him all the time to make sure he was faithful, Vinnie would be there when she wasn't . . . . Well, she liked Vinnie anyway and she had to admit that having him around was comforting. No matter how he much pretended otherwise, she knew Sonny's business was dangerous. But having someone like Vinnie close at hand, with the kind of extra incentive he had to watch Sonny's back, would help keep her husband safe and ensure that her children would have a father as they were growing up._ _

__And Sonny seemed to recognize what she meant when she had compared herself to Livia Augusta, wife of Augustus Caesar, and a major force in her own right. Livia had been nobody's fool and even her husband knew not to underestimate her; nor did he take her for granted. Augustus loved Livia, but the unspoken rules that existed between them were an important part of their long and successful union. There was no reason she and Sonny couldn't have that same kind of marriage._ _

__But then it had all turned out to be an ugly lie, since Vinnie had been trying to destroy Sonny from the very beginning. He'd fooled both of them, Sonny in a way that verged on cruelty. Yet after having watched him as he'd had his nightmare, she found herself wondering if Vinnie hadn't really cared after all. Sonny had long ago won **her** heart without even trying. He had that way about him. Perhaps Vinnie wasn't as different from her as she'd thought._ _

__*_ _

__Susan watched Vinnie on the screen, unable to tear her eyes away._ _

__Sonny was the name he'd called out. That was Sonny Steelgrave, who Theresa had been engaged to, and who was dead._ _

__Sonny was the name he'd called out, not hers. Sonny was the one he'd been having dirty dreams about and who he'd cried about when he woke up._ _

__He'd never talked about Sonny to her. Roger told her he'd worked for him and that was it. Maybe he'd told Mel something more, but Mel had never said anything about him, and Mel didn't keep things from her. Maybe Roger knew—Roger was undependable about the information he shared. But Roger was dead; Theresa had told her so._ _

__Susan watched him sleep, his rest now peaceful. "He dreamed about Sonny, not about me. If he's dreaming now, it's not about me. I didn't really mean anything to him; I didn't and the baby didn't, we were just part of his plan to destroy Mel. But that couldn't happen; Mel's too smart for them, all of them. When he gets here, we can decide what to do."_ _

__She watched him sleep, thinking how much she loved him. "He's my knight in shining armor; he keeps me safe. And he's so beautiful. I love him so much, and he loves me, and the baby. He's so good with the baby." She could see him holding their beautiful baby and the love was more than she could bear. She stood up and walked over to the screen, touching his face lovingly. "I love you so much."_ _

__Theresa came back into the room, quiet as a breeze. "It's time for his breakfast." Her voice didn't sound quite the same as it had the last time they'd talked; she sounded far away._ _

__Susan touched the screen again. "Did you make it?"_ _

__"Yes, I've got it here on a tray for you to take in to him."_ _

__Susan continued to look at the monitor. "No . . . ." She didn't want to leave Vinnie._ _

__Sometime later she heard a door close, then she heard someone knock on Vinnie's door and saw Vinnie start from his sleep. He found the robe they'd left for him, a beautiful blue one she'd picked out because it matched his eyes, and put it on, then he opened the door. Theresa came in with his breakfast, her eyes averted as if there was something bothering her. She set the tray down, opened the curtains, and started to leave, but Vinnie blocked her path. "Theresa, please, tell me what's going on?"_ _

__Her eyes met his. Susan wondered what she was thinking. "You know what's going on."_ _

__"You've got me here because you're angry about—"_ _

__"Shut up!" She slapped him hard. But now they were looking at each other._ _

__"—Sonny," Vinnie finished quietly._ _

__Sonny, who he dreamed about instead of her. Sonny, who he had those dreams about. Sonny, who he loved. Susan took her fingers from the screen and her fists clenched. She hated this Sonny, she wished he was dead, with all her heart she wished he was dead—_ _

__He dreamed about Sonny the way she dreamed about him. Did he long for Sonny the way she longed for him? Theresa had said he'd used Sonny the same way he'd used her . . . was that true? He had lied to her and told her he loved her. He'd told her she didn't need Mel, that she only needed him, as if that could be true. He lied and kissed her and lied again, he took the presents she gave him and lied and lied and lied._ _

__She felt so empty; she wanted Mel. She looked at Vinnie and thought that maybe he could fill the emptiness . . . but no, he'd done that before and it had only left her more empty. She wanted Mel . . . ._ _

__"Why would you say you didn't kill him?" Theresa asked_ _

__"Because I didn't."_ _

__"Neither did I, but I don't go around saying it. Why did you say it?"_ _

__"Because I was there when he died and I dream about it. Because I feel guilty about it."_ _

__Theresa was looking into his eyes, as if she was trying to read something there. Susan wanted to hit her. Finally Theresa looked away. "Eat your breakfast before it gets cold."_ _

__"Is there anything in it?"_ _

__Theresa's gaze snapped back to him angrily, but then she smiled. "You'll just have to take your chances. But maybe you should have breakfast in bed." She moved around him and left the room._ _

__Susan avidly watched as he ate his breakfast, then as he paced the room, looked out the window, used the bathroom. Finally he pulled the curtains again and returned to bed._ _

__Theresa came back into the room to join Susan. "I want to talk to you."_ _

__"Shhh, he's almost asleep."_ _

__"He can't hear us! Susan—"_ _

__"Go back in there, I want you to tell him to dream about me."_ _

__Theresa's eyes went wide and she slowly backed out of the room._ _

__*_ _

__Making her way to the kitchen, Theresa considered her next move._ _

__The Profitt woman's sudden downward slide disturbed her deeply. It was becoming clear that bringing Susan had been very far removed from a good idea. In fact, Theresa might actually have contributed to the woman's dementia by forcing her to relive pain that was more than she could bear._ _

__The thought felt heavy, another burden added to the weight she'd carried far too long, but Theresa Baglia had known for a long time that there wasn't any pain she couldn't bear. A husband, a brother, a father, all dead—if she could carry this what couldn't she carry? Certainly one more death, if need be . . . ._ _

__Which brought her back to Terranova._ _

__Theresa took the packet of syringes out of the kitchen drawer and laid it on the counter. Two vials joined it. But she found herself strangely reluctant to pick them up._ _

__She'd planned to kill him, of course, one way or another. As long as his betrayal went unpunished, as long as the Judas lived free and content, she couldn't. But now . . . ._ _

__Now she needed to find out a few things before she would know what to do. Things only Vinnie could tell her._ _

__She opened the packet of syringes and prepared a needleful of the special cocktail Susan had devised. The woman might be a basket or two short of a picnic, but with what she knew about chemicals and the human body, she could have written a book. Or three._ _

__Capping the syringe, Theresa slipped a pair of handcuffs and a length of rubber tubing from the same drawer into her pocket, and checked her .38. With the gun in one hand and the needle in the other, she went to pay a visit to her unwilling guest._ _

__*_ _

__Susan was singing to the baby, and to Vinnie, who seemed determined to sleep as much as possible. She hugged her knees and rocked a little as she sang. Vinnie looked so sweet when he was sleeping, like a little boy. That heavy lock of hair fell across his forehead just the way she remembered. She reached out to touch the monitor, smoothing it back. It seemed to her that he smiled a little._ _

__The Baglia woman entered Vinnie's room with a syringe, her weapon at the ready. Seeing Vinnie asleep, Theresa muttered something Susan couldn't hear, and stepped close to the bed. Susan thought maybe Theresa was going to make Vinnie dream about her, the way he was supposed to. Instead Theresa struck him once sharply with the butt of her gun across his jaw, and stepped back swiftly, leveling the weapon. Vinnie surged up off the bed, then froze at the sound of Theresa's safety clicking off._ _

__Susan froze too, watching, her heart in her throat. "No—"_ _

__Theresa held the gun pointed at his knee, and her hand never wavered. Cool and expressionless, she laid the syringe aside on the night stand, and reaching into her pocket, produced a pair of handcuffs. She threw them to Vinnie, whose eyes had widened at seeing the syringe._ _

__"Put these on."_ _

__"Theresa—"_ _

__Theresa's chin lifted menacingly, and her eyes flashed. "Do what I tell you, Vinnie. I'm through playing with you."_ _

__Vinnie slowly put the cuffs around one wrist, and clicked the locking mechanism home. Theresa stopped him with a wave of her gun before he could close the other one._ _

__"To the headboard."_ _

__He complied. When the second bracelet clicked shut, she put the safety back on the gun, and put it into her pocket. She shook her head contemptuously at him. "I'm insulted, Vinnie. Am I boring you here, that you should doze off like that?" Her gaze sharpened. "Or were you hoping for another visit from Sonny?"_ _

__Vinnie was looking distinctly nervous. He had drawn back against the headboard as far from Theresa as he could get. But he covered the fear with a look of honest entreaty. Susan knew that look. "Vinnie," she said, trying to warn him that his tricks wouldn't work. Not on the deadly woman with the gun, and not on her any more, not ever again. "Watch out, Vinnie," she murmured, not hearing the chill that had crept into her own voice. "Watch out . . . ."_ _

__"Theresa," Vinnie tried again, pleading sincerely, "I didn't kill Sonny. And I didn't kill your father. I know it's hard—"_ _

__Theresa didn't strike him, though it looked to be a close thing. "Don't you **ever** say that," she said, her voice cold and pitched low, controlled. "Don't you **ever** tell me you know what I feel, you son of a bitch."_ _

__He looked like he wanted to say something else, but thought better of it and kept quiet._ _

__Theresa, all business, pulled Vinnie's robe back, baring one of his legs. She held his eyes the whole time. "Hold still, or I'll shoot you in the foot, I swear to God." Something in her face must have convinced him, because he let her shoot him up behind the knee with only a grimace of protest._ _

__Watching, Susan Profitt suddenly missed her brother with an ache that felt like suffocating._ _

__*_ _

__When Theresa uncuffed him from the bed, Vinnie knew he ought to struggle, but the will to fight seemed to have gone out of him, and he couldn't remember why he'd wanted to resist her. This was the strangest idea of revenge he'd ever heard of. What was she drugging him with, and what did she mean to do with him? What could he say to get through to her? And where was Susan? Even the questions seemed impossible to hold in his head, swimming away like languid, slippery fish in a dark pool._ _

__At gunpoint, she forced him to get up and stumble before her down the hall. He tried everything he could think of to shake off the thick, sweet lethargy, down to biting his tongue and the sensitive skin on the inside of his cheeks. But his brain was too sluggish and disoriented to send the necessary signals to his limbs._ _

__He distantly knew she had brought him to another room where it was dark and cool, deep shadows in every corner. He felt strange. Different than last night, he realized vaguely, sensing his body somewhere below the place where he was floating, a few feet above the bed. Different . . . this darkness tasted sweeter, smelled quieter, didn't feel as warm and sticky. It was a different color, too._ _

__"I'm losin' it," Vinnie told himself. "Only the toes knows . . ." That struck him as supremely funny, and he giggled a bit before his body started to swim away, out of reach._ _

__She got him to a chair before the lethargy slunk through his arms and legs and finally pulled him down toward night. Darkness closed over him like a cool, green wave._ _

__*_ _

_Vinnie . . . ._

__Life was so much safer when you were asleep._ _

_Vinnie . . . ._

__"C'mon, Mom," he cajoled under his breath, "ten more minutes."_ _

__Pain, dull and wooden, jarred him toward waking. He fought it._ _

__"Wake up, Vinnie," a voice said, and it wasn't his mother's. Theresa whacked him in the kneecap again with something heavy, and he opened his eyes. Bad idea, he knew at once. Very bad idea._ _

__He was in a dark, paneled room, bound tightly to a straight-backed chair, and his knee hurt. A lot. The room swam dizzily for a moment, then seemed to settle itself in a mostly stable arrangement, as long as he didn't move too much or pay attention to the little trails of violet and gold that seemed to spin lazily off of everything. Aside from the throbbing pain where she'd hit him, he was flying very high indeed. Somewhere, he'd lost his robe; he was naked save for his boxer shorts._ _

__Theresa saw he was awake and put the fireplace poker back on its rack._ _

__"Time to get down to business, Vinnie."_ _

__It took him considerable effort to remember how to make his lips and tongue and throat work. "What d'you want from me?" he managed._ _

__"Just the truth, if you even know what that is any more."_ _

__Vinnie searched for something to say in his own defense, but his brain wasn't cooperating. Before he could speak something caught his attention, something just at the edge of his peripheral vision. He didn't want to look—was afraid to look. He went very still, deliberately not turning his head because he really didn't want to see what was over there. Or who._ _

___Not real,_ he chanted silently, willing it to be true. That casual posture, one hip hitched on the big leather couch . . . . _Not real, not real, you're not really here._ Theresa was doing something, getting something out of a black zipper bag. When she came back she had yet another syringe, and seeing it, Vinnie's eyes widened. "What are you gonna do to me?"_ _

__He'd never noticed how black Theresa's eyes were. They were utterly opaque now. She uncapped the syringe and tapped it, never looking away._ _

__His arms were strapped to the arms of the chair, exposed, and he couldn't move. The trails of color were worse now, his awareness of a third presence in the room overwhelming. He was really losing it. "You're gonna kill me," he said hoarsely, exerting all his will not to turn and look at the man who wasn't real, who couldn't be. "I'm flyin' already. I'm fucked up, Theresa." Don't look . . . ._ _

__She just smiled tightly. "Susan knows what she's doing. It won't kill you."_ _

__This did not reassure Vinnie in the least. He paled, struggling a little against the straps. "You're lettin' Susan set the dosages? She's crazy! You can't trust her. Please—" It occurred to him belatedly that Susan was probably watching them right now._ _

__Theresa held the needle poised a few inches from his vein. "This is just a little sodium pentathol so we can have a real, honest-to-God conversation for once. I know it's a foreign concept but I'm sick of your lies, Vinnie. Everyone's sick of your lies. Aren't you?"_ _

__Vinnie tried to think, though it wasn't easy the way his head was making colored spirals out of his thoughts. Maybe if he gave her what she wanted, whatever truth it was she thought he could give her, she would be satisfied and let him go. He relaxed, and let her stick him without any further struggle._ _

__It was when the needle went in, stabbing sharp pain up his arm, that the realization finally connected in his brain. Not a dream, because you didn't feel pain like that in a dream. And if it wasn't a dream, if this was real, then maybe—Vinnie's heart turned over, with hope or terror, and a surge of adrenaline kicked hard through his system. Oh, God, not possible, but what if—?_ _

__The thought was so powerful, so devastatingly real, that he jerked his gaze too quickly toward the figure in the corner and the room spun violently._ _

__Sonny smiled, white teeth gleaming in the shadows._ _

__*_ _

__Sonny came over to stand in front of Vinnie; Theresa was standing at his side and slightly behind him, and to Vinnie she looked chimerical, bathed in darkness like a shadowy angel. "Look at her. Beauty, brains, and the heart of a lion. What more could a man ask for in a wife?"_ _

__But Sonny's voice focused Vinnie's attention on him more firmly. He didn't say anything; he didn't want to be looking at Sonny—with all his heart he wanted this to be a dream, but he couldn't look away._ _

__"If she'd been Joey's son instead of his daughter—but she has her own power. You mighta noticed that. Tough as nails."_ _

__Vinnie tried to look away, but Sonny's gaze was compelling. "Yeah, I know, you told me."_ _

__Sonny reached out and stroked his cheek. "So be nice to her, maybe she'll quit hitting you."_ _

__"'Be nice to her'—! Tell her to quit shooting me up!"_ _

__"Hush," Theresa muttered, removing the needle carefully._ _

__"Just be glad all she's doing's scrambling your brains; if you're not nice to her, her next idea's gonna be to be to pump you fulla morphine while your girlfriend watches. You're already strapped down good an' tight."_ _

__"No!" Vinnie pulled at the restraints, but they didn't budge and the struggle just sent sharp, silver spikes through him._ _

__"Stop that!" Theresa admonished, dropping the needle into the wastebasket._ _

__"I'd hate to see it happen, but you know how hard women can be to reason with." Sonny looked over at Theresa, smiling indulgently. "Anyhow, that new stuff's different; makes you wanna talk, doesn't it? So talk to her."_ _

__Theresa slapped him, and the spikes turned a threatening gold and black. "Wake up, Vinnie. Look at me!"_ _

__"I'll talk to you, all right? But it has to be just us, just the two of us. I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just send him away." He looked at Sonny angrily. "Why can't you just go away?"_ _

__Sonny just laughed. "Are you kiddin'? I wouldn't miss this for the world."_ _

__"There's no one else in this room." And from the tone of Theresa's voice, Vinnie was afraid she was going to slap him again._ _

__"Yeah, fine, you tell him that. Maybe you can make him leave. I can't."_ _

__"That's right," Sonny whispered._ _

__"I've had enough of your games," Theresa snapped._ _

__"So have I," Sonny said to her._ _

__"It's not a game." He was trying to concentrate on her, figure out what to say to get through to her, but Sonny was so close he couldn't think. "Dammit, Sonny, go away."_ _

__Theresa pulled up a chair and sat in front of him, so close their knees were almost touching. Sonny had moved to stand behind her. "Pay attention. Why did you go after Sonny instead of someone else?"_ _

__Vinnie tried to think, but the only answer that came to him was the truth. "It wasn't Sonny. It was Dave."_ _

__"It was Dave what?"_ _

__"I'd just gotten out of prison, and Dave killed my training officer. I promised him I'd get Dave."_ _

__She seemed to think about that for a moment. "What were you doing in prison?"_ _

__"I got busted for bootlegging cigarettes. I was setting my cover."_ _

__"So what did you do in prison? Learn how to trick people to get your way?"_ _

__He didn't want to talk about that, though the answers were piling up in his head. "It was prison. You brought me here to hear about the prison experience?"_ _

__"Answer the question. I imagine someone with your looks wouldn't have a problem getting what he wanted. Is that where you learned how to fool Sonny the way you did? Convince him he could trust you with everything?"_ _

__"I did whatever I had to do. You wanna hear about it? I had somebody who brought me in contraband—not dangerous stuff, just stuff we weren't allowed to have, and I sold it. It made me important enough, I got by OK, after a while. That was after the first week, when I got raped. You wanna hear about that?" He could feel the ugly words in his mouth, could taste them and smell them; he wanted to spit them out on the floor and watch them squirm away._ _

__Her voice faltered. "Is this another one of your games?"_ _

__"You never told me," Sonny said somberly._ _

__"Yeah, there were five of 'em. And they held me down and I don't exactly remember what happened except that it hurt like hell and I wished I was dead." He could feel it again, the inevitable terror of it, knowing his fighting and yelling wasn't going to change a thing, they were going to do what they wanted no matter what. "And you know something? You never get rid of the sound of the laughter."_ _

__"Hey, man, I'm sorry," Sonny whispered._ _

__Vinnie pulled his eyes away. "Shut up, I didn't tell you about it before because I knew you'd act like this and I just couldn't take it. I knew how you'd treat me and I didn't want your pity."_ _

__Theresa slapped her her palms down hard on Vinnie's thighs. "So revenge was the reason you started investigating Dave and Sonny?"_ _

__"Yeah . . . . It was about justice, about upholding the law, but—yeah."_ _

__"If you were after Dave, why did you stay after he died?"_ _

__"Yeah," Sonny agreed, "how come you stuck around?"_ _

__"I was in good, and it was my job, investigating organized crime," Vinnie told Theresa. He looked at Sonny. "You were a criminal, you know."_ _

__"Stop it," Theresa said through clenched teeth. "I've been very patient with you, but there is no one in this room but the two of us. I've known Sonny for nearly half my life. He doesn't trust anyone. So how did you get so close?"_ _

__"I dunno. He just—wanted me close."_ _

__"And did you help things along by leading him on?"_ _

__"Leading him on? I never led him on."_ _

__"Nah, that's true—you always put out." Sonny's tone was fond._ _

__"You had to do something," Theresa insisted. "Or why else would the two of you be sleeping together?"_ _

__"I don't know, why don't you ask him?" He looked to Sonny. "Talk to her, will you?"_ _

__Sonny shook his head. "Huh-uh, I wanna hear what you got to say."_ _

__"I was your friend, and I loved you!"_ _

__She slapped him, knocking his head back. "Stop it! Talk to **me.** Tell me—how could you betray him if you were his friend and loved him?"_ _

__"It was my job, and it's a job I still believe in. Dammit, what he was doing was wrong—what do you call killing Patrice?"_ _

__"You agreed to help Patrice kill him."_ _

__"My guys were going to bust Patrice before that could happen."_ _

__"I always love that story," Sonny said. "Tell it again."_ _

__"What if Patrice had changed his mind, moved things up? Were you just going to stand back and let them have Sonny?"_ _

__"Yeah, yeah, let's hear the answer to that one."_ _

__He looked at Sonny, couldn't tear his eyes away. "I'd have killed Patrice. I'd have killed Scullisi and everyone else in the damn room if I'd had to. I wouldn't have let anyone . . . you were the only one I couldn't stop."_ _

__Sonny didn't say anything, but he moved closer to Vinnie._ _

__This time her hand just tapped his cheek. "Who are **you** to judge Sonny for killing Patrice? I've done my research, you shot Tony San Martano. So does this mean it's OK for OCB agents to kill people, but everyone else goes to jail for doing the same thing?"_ _

__"I wasn't judging him, I was arresting him. The judging would have come at trial. And San Martano raped a girl I was seeing—I can't say I'm sorry I killed him; I know it's supposed to be wrong, but—I don't care." He tried to find the repentance he knew should be there, but the cupboard was bare._ _

__"So that was justified in your opinion?" Theresa asked._ _

__"Yeah, it was. And I got a good alibi because I have a badge."_ _

__"So the badge makes all the difference?"_ _

__"In getting away with it, yeah."_ _

__Sonny laughed. "Never thought of that."_ _

__Theresa seemed impatient with this, annoyed with him, though he was telling the truth. "Sonny knew Patrice was going to move on him. What was he supposed to do, sit still and do nothing to save himself?"_ _

__"How was I supposed to know he knew?" Vinnie asked, exasperated._ _

__"I thought you were his best friend," Theresa said sarcastically. "Or was he finally starting to see through you and that's why he didn't tell you his plans?"_ _

__"That's not what happened—it was Aldo telling Sonny about the hit that had him suspicious."_ _

__"So that's why you killed him?"_ _

__"I told you, I didn't kill Sonny!" Vinnie yelled._ _

__"I'm talking about my brother," Theresa snapped. "He found you in Vancouver and you killed him before he could tell your secret."_ _

__Vinnie squinted at her, more confused now than he had been before. "What? What're you talking about?"_ _

__"Don't play dumb with me. You pushed him off a roof."_ _

__"I pushed Aldo off a roof?" Vinnie asked slowly. "You'd think I'd remember that."_ _

__"The man he was working for called my mother to let her know. Susan said the man who shot you fell off a roof. She didn't know his name, but I know, it was Aldo. So did you have it done to protect your cover?"_ _

__"Aldo's the one that shot me . . . ?" Vinnie asked. "Roger never told me that. I wonder if Frank knows."_ _

__"Who's Roger?" Sonny asked, and his tone was flinty._ _

__"Shut up, I'm not talking to you." Vinnie tried to focus his full attention on Theresa. "Theresa, I couldn't have had it done; I was in a coma."_ _

__"I remember that," Sonny said. "Do you?" And Vinnie could feel Sonny touching him in his dreams._ _

__"Leave me alone."_ _

__"Roger, Frank?" Theresa repeated. "Are those some of your OCB buddies?"_ _

__"Frank's OCB," Vinnie agreed. "Roger was Mel's chief of security."_ _

__"Working for Mel, killing guys for you," Sonny said thoughtfully. "You an' me're gonna talk later."_ _

__"Didn't you ever ask how you got shot?" Theresa demanded. "Or is that routine in the Judas business?"_ _

__"I thought they were shooting at Mel! Must'a been Mel's paranoia rubbing off on me, I just assumed it was true."_ _

__"And you never bothered to ask what happened to that person?" Theresa's tone was skeptical._ _

__"You don't understand the level of paranoia in that place. Ask too many questions and they take you out back and whack you."_ _

__Sonny had turned his back, but Vinnie could hear him laughing. "Oh, quit it, it's not funny."_ _

__"Stop it." Theresa was still jabbing at him. "I guess a liar like you has good reason to be paranoid. My father said extermination was the only way to deal with rats."_ _

__" **I** wasn't paranoid, Mel was. If your brother hadn't been such a sneaky little rat, none of this would have happened. He told Sonny what I hadn't, and that undermined his faith in me."_ _

__"That was the wrong thing to say." Theresa's tone was deadly cold._ _

__"What're you gonna do, kill me? You're already gonna kill me. You gave me the truth serum so I'm telling you the truth—your brother was a rat—a sneaky little rat." Vinnie laughed, feeling something like hysteria coming over him. "And how else am I gonna get rid of him, anyway?"_ _

__"You don't have to go easy—I can make it a lot harder."_ _

__Vinnie didn't doubt her sincerity, but he didn't care, didn't feel a shred of fear. "Harder?" he challenged her. "Harder than him showing up and not going away, not leaving me alone for a minute?"_ _

__"If you're having a guilty conscious don't blame me. You lied to Sonny and tricked him. You hurt him for no reason than to further your case and you expect me to feel sorry for you. You can save that routine for Susan. She might buy it this time."_ _

__"I was doing my job."_ _

__"So am I." Theresa's voice was strong and implacable._ _

__"I knew I could count on you," Sonny told her softly._ _

__"I can't stop you, can I? What do you want from me?"_ _

__"To know why you did it."_ _

__"I did it because I didn't have any choice. It was my job and I hated it and I did it anyway. You wanna know all of it? I didn't tell 'em about—" Somehow it was all very clear in his head, even if the words seemed to be coming out wrong._ _

__"You know what I'm talking about." She didn't have to elaborate._ _

__"Why I slept with him?" Vinnie tried not to look at Sonny, but he couldn't stop himself. He was feeling as overwhelmed as he had that first night._ _

__"Yeah, tell me," Sonny murmured, at the same time Theresa demanded,_ _

__"Why did you?"_ _

__"I loved him." A thought came to him. "And if you knew so much, why didn't you say anything?"_ _

__"Who said I knew anything?"_ _

__Vinnie cut his gaze to Sonny. "You been telling her secrets behind my back?"_ _

__"Quit it, or I'll get the fire poker."_ _

__"She's smart, I told you that." He smiled at Theresa. "That's why I love you."_ _

__"You knew it at the time, though, didn't you? You figured it out when you caught me coming out of Sonny's apartment—you must have, since I didn't tell you and Sonny didn't tell you."_ _

__"You shouldn't leave your jacket hanging in Sonny's closet like that. He'd never wear one of those."_ _

__Vinnie smiled. "Wouldn't'a fit him anyhow."_ _

__"I know. I checked the tag."_ _

__"So you knew. So why were you marrying him?"_ _

__"Because I loved him. I still do."_ _

__"So do I. I didn't want to, I don't want to, but I do."_ _

__Theresa stood up, pushing her chair back. Without another word, she left the room, leaving Vinnie alone with Sonny._ _

__*_ _

__Theresa was heading for her room when Susan called out to her from the doorway of the room at the end of the hall. "Who was that you were talking to?" Her voice had that odd, little girl tone to it, but Theresa thought she detected an undercurrent of something—creepy. And her question didn't make any sense._ _

__"What do you mean?" Theresa stopped and turned, but did not move any closer._ _

__"That man in there. Who is he? Where's Vinnie?"_ _

__This weirdness had Theresa feeling slow and confused and she just wanted to get to her own room. "What **are** you talking about?"_ _

__Susan's tone went to cold and imperious. "Fine, don't tell me. But I heard him telling lies about Vinnie and I won't have talk like that in my house. Get him out of my house—because if you don't, I'll have Vinnie throw him out." She smiled a predatory smile, and Theresa could see her enjoying the image of Vinnie protecting her. The need to get away from her intensified, but something niggled at the back of Theresa's brain._ _

__"What do you mean 'you heard him'?" Theresa demanded._ _

__"I was watching you," she explained smugly. "Mel always said it was important to know what was going on around you."_ _

__The sinking sensation was so profound it made Theresa nauseous. "You said the cameras were in Vinnie's rooms."_ _

__"There are cameras everywhere. Is that why you were meeting that guy in the other room, because you thought I wouldn't see you in there?"_ _

___She's completely nuts, _Theresa thought, but something in her insisted on trying to reason with her. "If you were watching then you should know I was trying to make Vinnie tell the truth. That was the whole point of this, remember." She turned toward to her room, but Susan moved in front of her, blocking her way.__ _ _

____"Vinnie's in his bed asleep, I just tucked him in."_ _ _ _

____Between Vinnie talking to Sonny— **who wasn't there!** —and Susan babbling incoherently, Theresa was at the end of her rope. "Look, I've had enough games for one night from Vinnie so I don't need more from you. It's **your** drug, you're the one who claimed it would make him tell the truth. So don't blame me if you don't like what you heard." She paused, took a deep breath, wanting to say something to knock that smug smile off Susan's face. "Maybe I should have asked him why he had you locked up."_ _ _ _

____Theresa got her wish; Susan's eyes went wide and dark and emptied of all reason. "What do you mean? Are you talking about Vinnie? Because Vinnie loves me!"_ _ _ _

____Something in Theresa told her to stop, to shut up, but she just couldn't; that first taste of blood had her hungry for more. "Sure, he loves you. That's why he had you locked up."_ _ _ _

____"He didn't—it wasn't him—"_ _ _ _

_____Don't taunt the crazy people,_ her common sense told her, but she ignored it. "Who was it then?"_ _ _ _

____"I don't know what you're talking about; I was never locked up." The imperiousness had returned, but it was fragile, like an icicle shattering._ _ _ _

____"If you want to pretend it never happened, I don't care. But Vinnie's used Sonny and killed him. That I won't forgive." She didn't know why she said it; the truth was in her brain but it hadn't yet reached her heart and the words poured out from force of habit. She stepped around Susan and strode toward her room._ _ _ _

____Susan's voice went shrill and indignant; she trailed after Theresa, grabbing her hand as Theresa started to open the door. "Vinnie did the right thing. Sonny was a bad man, a criminal, and it's a good thing he's dead."_ _ _ _

____The whole world went a sick gray. Theresa turned around slowly. "What did you say?"_ _ _ _

____Susan's words had hit their mark. She smiled triumphantly. "He was a bad man and you're lucky he's out of your life."_ _ _ _

____Theresa slapped her, stepped into her room, and slammed the door._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Slamming the bedroom door behind her, Theresa collapsed against it, her body shaking with rage. Susan had told her the only cameras were in Vinnie's rooms, and like a fool she'd believed her—that's why she'd taken Vinnie down the hall to question him. If Susan's truth serum worked as well as she claimed, Theresa knew what kind of things would come out. It was one thing for her to know that her fiance had a male lover; she had come to terms with Vinnie being a part of Sonny's life. And she'd understood why Sonny had gone to such great lengths to keep that relationship hidden from everyone; in their world he had no other choice. So if it had been **that** important to him, she would do her best to protect his secret even now._ _ _ _

____But suddenly the whole story was on videotape in the hands of a woman who would probably broadcast it out of spite. And when Susan had said Sonny was bad and Theresa should be glad he was dead, something had just snapped in her. Glad he's dead, glad he's dead! She would've happily given a year of her life to have just one more day with Sonny, and now this woman—this bitch—was telling her she should be happy that he was gone._ _ _ _

____Theresa walked into her bathroom, turned on the shower and started to undress. Normally she preferred baths, but as angry as she was now, she had to think this through, and water splashing in her face would help her focus. Things were spinning wildly out of control and she had to come up with some plan before the situation got worse._ _ _ _

____She stood under the water for several minutes, doing nothing, letting the steam and the stinging jets relax her. More than once over the years she'd heard their father telling Aldo never to let his emotions get the best of him. "If you lose your temper, you aren't thinking clearly, and that's when you make mistakes." And now she had done the very thing their father had been trying to teach Aldo to avoid. At the time, slapping Susan had felt so good. And it still did—but now she realized what a dangerous mistake it had been. **Before** Susan's deluded ramblings could be safely ignored. But now she'd turned the other woman into an enemy. The shocked, then cold look on Susan's face had plainly said so._ _ _ _

____She began to mentally replay her conversation with Vinnie from the beginning. At first she'd felt that he had managed to beat the drug and was trying to trick her by pretending someone else was in the room. Naturally he would say it was Sonny, since he'd know that would get to her. But before long she realized it wasn't a game, that somewhere in that drug-soaked head of his, he **was** seeing Sonny. Good. Sonny would have loved it. He always wanted to be remembered, and seeing his betrayer suffer like this would have made his day._ _ _ _

_______Vinnie had kept drifting off, but a quick smack helped his concentration. _No, stop fooling yourself! There's more to this and you know it. You weren't slapping Vinnie because he wasn't cooperating. He__ **was,** even if he had an attitude about it. No, you were hitting him because you were jealous. Jealous because even now Sonny is still a living, breathing person to him. He can probably still feel his touch. That's it. It's driving you crazy because Vinnie can when you can't.  
  
Oh, Dad, you were right. I've got to get over this, look at the facts. You and Sonny deserve better. 

____The more she'd talked to him, the less Vinnie had seemed like any other Federal agent she had ever seen or heard of in the past. They prided themselves on being better than people like Sonny, her father, and Aldo. Yet here was one who flat out said he went after Dave for revenge. That was something only the bad guys were supposed to do. And they'd certainly never admit that carrying a badge let them get away with the very things they'd put anyone else in prison for doing._ _ _ _

____And that prison story. That was the last thing she'd ever expected to hear. _Vinnie's such a big guy. Sonny said he used to be a boxer like him. So how could something like that happen . . . you know the answer, it's like he said. When there's five against one, they do what they want._ She didn't have to ask to know that he'd never told anyone about it. Being victimized like that was hard enough for a woman to admit, but for a man, saying he's been raped must be virtually impossible. And whether he talked about it or not, the scars inside had to run deep._ _ _ _

____Part of her had wanted to stop then, but she had to know more, had to know all of it, about Aldo, Sonny, everything. Aldo had been her brother and she loved him, but for a long time she had known that eventually his temper would get him into deep trouble. Shooting Vinnie when he was with three other people was simply stupid. Didn't he realize that they would find him? Or did he plan on spending the rest of his life running? Susan had said that her brother's head of security was very good at his job. Since Vinnie hadn't even known Aldo was in Vancouver, it must have been this Roger who had tracked him down in the end. _Now you're dead too and for what? Our mother won't even leave the house anymore. You were always her favorite, how can I tell her you died in a dirty alleyway chasing someone who didn't even know you were alive?__ _ _ _

____So Vinnie hadn't known about Sonny's plans for Patrice. After Aldo's warning, Sonny would've had no choice except to defend himself. But hearing this had given her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Time and time again Sonny had told her how much he trusted Vinnie, how he could tell him anything. Yet the one time he hadn't done it, everything blew up in his face. Hadn't Vinnie said that his guys were going to break in before Patrice had a chance to make his move? Sonny would've still been arrested, but Vinnie **had** tried to save his life. So it seemed reasonable to assume that if Sonny had told Vinnie he was going to kill Patrice at the party, Vinnie would have come up with some way to stop him._ _ _ _

____Then how had things gone so wrong in the end? She'd done her best to find out about what had happened in the theatre, but all she'd gotten from the OCB was a stony silence. Vinnie knew, he'd been with Sonny, yet when she'd had her chance to ask him, something had held her back. She couldn't make herself ask the one question that had been haunting her for months, and now the moment was gone forever._ _ _ _

____But what to do next? Slowly the anger she'd nursed for so long had been washed away by the water, and was even now being replaced by a feeling of something shared with Vinnie. Looking back, she realized it had been the Scullisi threat that had done it. From the deliberate way Vinnie said it she could tell he didn't care about becoming a murderer, didn't care if the OCB found out or not. He probably wouldn't even have cared if he went to prison for killing Scullisi or Patrice. Saving Sonny's life had been the **only** thing that mattered to him. So even if he had started out to set Sonny up, somewhere along the way things changed, lines disappeared. He **did** love Sonny, and duty or not, had done his best to save him._ _ _ _

____Stepping out of the shower and wrapping her hair in a towel, she finally made up her mind. She wouldn't give Vinnie any more drugs, wouldn't punish him anymore. How she would get out of this, she wasn't sure yet, but she'd come up with something. As for Susan, starting tomorrow she would be much more careful around her. Who knew what a crazy person might do?_ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____As soon as the door closed behind Theresa, Sonny sat down in the chair she'd vacated. "Roger, huh?"_ _ _ _

____Vinnie looked into his dark, demanding eyes. "Why don't you make yourself useful and untie me here."_ _ _ _

____"Are you kidding? I've got you right where I want you."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie looked away. "How many times do I have to tell you to get out of my life?"_ _ _ _

____"Just once," Sonny said seriously, and when Vinnie turned to look at him, added, "but you gotta really mean it." And he burst out laughing._ _ _ _

____Vinnie struggled with his bonds. "Fucking hilarious; let me loose so I can knock that stupid smile off your face. Theresa hates me and Susan's nuts; either one of 'em could pull the trigger any time now, and if I go, where are **you** going to be spending **your** summers, the Riviera?"_ _ _ _

____Sonny shifted in his chair, his knees rubbing against Vinnie's, and leaned closer. "Tell me about Roger."_ _ _ _

____"What about him? He was a CIA agent after Mel's money."_ _ _ _

____"And he killed guys for you."_ _ _ _

____"Apparently he killed Aldo, but I don't know for sure since I wasn't fucking there! Now un-fucking-tie me!"_ _ _ _

____"Why would he be killing guys for you?"_ _ _ _

____"I don't know, I wasn't there, I didn't even know about it 'til Theresa told me. I was in a coma, something you ought'a remember."_ _ _ _

____Sonny ran one hand up Vinnie's thigh. "Yeah, I do."_ _ _ _

____"So what are you giving me such a hard time for?"_ _ _ _

____"I want you to tell me about Roger."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie sighed extravagantly, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, sure, why not, it's not like I've got anything better to do with my time. Roger was working for Mel when I got there—he's the reason I got involved in the case in the first place. Then I found out he was really CIA and the deal was supposed to be for him to get Mel's money behind the revolution in some little third world country. Only that didn't pan out and Mel ended up dead and Susan cracked up—as you might have noticed."_ _ _ _

____"And your friend Roger?"_ _ _ _

____"Roger ended up the target of a senate investigation and faked his death before anyone else could do it for real. I'm the only one who knows he's still alive."_ _ _ _

____"So you must be pretty special to him."_ _ _ _

____"I'm his friend, Sonny, that's it."_ _ _ _

____"And that's why you've got all that money of his in your closet?"_ _ _ _

____"What is it you wanna hear, that there's no other guy I ever did it with, wanted to do it with, no other guy I ever went down on, no other guy I ever let stick it up me, is that what you wanna hear, is that what this is all about, you're jealous? Your fiancee's about to blow my head off and you're too busy worrying about who else's gotten into my pants to help me out here? Well, fuck you, just get out, and yeah, I mean it!"_ _ _ _

____The warm fingers on his thigh slid away, and then Sonny was gone, though Vinnie wasn't sure how that had happened. What he was sure of was that now he was completely alone._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Susan stroked the dark hair of the slumped figure on the TV monitor. "I won't let her take you away from me again. She's bad too, and I'll save you from her." She turned off the monitor and the lights and left the room._ _ _ _

____The shower was running in that woman's room, which Susan knew meant she was talking to someone and didn't want to be overheard. It didn't matter; whatever she was saying Susan didn't need to hear it. She went down the hall to the library, closing the door quietly behind her. He didn't look up, though she knew he was waiting for her._ _ _ _

____"I know who you are," she said softly, and he raised his head. His eyes were almost as blue as Vinnie's._ _ _ _

____"What?" He looked at her, his eyes desperate. "Susan—untie me. Please. I need to lie down."_ _ _ _

____Susan smiled. His eyes were pretty, but his voice was wrong. Why hadn't she noticed that before? "I know who you are, but who is she? A social worker? Or one of those doctors Mrs. Martin wants me to talk to? I should have known it from the first, when she told me she wanted to be my friend and help me. They always say that first thing, 'I want to help you, Susan. I want to be your friend.' And then they try to take Mel away from me. What is she, a teacher, a social worker?"_ _ _ _

____"She's Sonny's fiancee," he said. He seemed to be having a hard time keeping his head up. "Susan, please untie me."_ _ _ _

____"Of course you'd lie." She looked at him more closely; he really did look like Vinnie, at least in a certain light. "It doesn't matter; my life is perfect with Mel and Vinnie and the baby, and she's not going to take it away from me. She thought she could pass you off as Vinnie, but I know the truth. My Vinnie loves me and he dreams about me when I tell him to." She smiled and rubbed her hand over her abdomen as she felt the baby move. "You don't know what it was like to be locked up, kept away from Mel, knowing how much he was suffering, how lonely he was for me."_ _ _ _

____"Susan, Mel's dead, an' those drugs you've been pumpin' me full of are makin' me sick—"_ _ _ _

____She looked at him, feeling nothing, not for his silly lie and not for his indisposition. "Tell me where he is."_ _ _ _

____"Where who is?"_ _ _ _

____"Vinnie."_ _ _ _

____He pulled at his restraints in frustration. "Dammit, Susan, **I'm** Vinnie. You know that."_ _ _ _

____For a second she wasn't sure; then she put her hand on his head, stroking him. "No, you're not. Your hair isn't as soft as Vinnie's."_ _ _ _

____He jerked away from her touch angrily. "How the hell could Theresa miss that you're still off your rocker?"_ _ _ _

____If Vinnie had spoken to her this way—though he never would—if he had scorned her affection—though he never would—it would have broken her heart. But coming from this cheap imposter, it meant nothing. "If you're very quiet, and very good, I'll let you leave. But you mustn't talk to Mrs. Pavarin anymore. She doesn't like Mel and me, and she told the most awful lies to Mrs. Martin until Mel and I stopped her. Now just be very quiet and everything will be all right."_ _ _ _

____She stroked his hair again, then left the room._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Insanity ran through Vinnie's veins, sheer desperate lunacy. If he could have reached them, he would have chewed through his bonds; as it was, he pulled at them, knowing he was cutting himself and not caring._ _ _ _

____"Dammit, Sonny, how can you just leave me here? Susan's **nuts**! Come back here and untie me!" He paused, thinking. "I'm goin' nuts here, too. You're dead and I'm arguing with you about **Roger** of all people, an' expecting you to come rescue me." He pulled at the restraints again. "Too bad it's not **Roger** who's dead, **he'd** come back an' help me, not question me about who else I've had in my bed! And Roger an' me are **just friends**! How many times do I hafta tell you that?" He turned his head as far as he could in each direction, scanning the room. "OK! So there was that one night in Valdusta Ridge! He was wired to where I thought he was gonna detonate any second! **It didn't mean anything**! Dammit, come back here!"_ _ _ _

____But the room was empty, silent and dim. Vinnie couldn't even force himself to imagine a figure in the shadows. "You gotta talk to me. Tell me how to talk to Theresa. She's my only hope. C'm'on, you don't really want her offin' me, she's not like that, she just really misses you. Sonny . . . ."_ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Theresa had finished toweling her hair dry and had put on her nightgown. Not that she expected to sleep much that night, but still, it was best to continue to behave normally._ _ _ _

____Vinnie's yelling had her running to the library, frightened that Susan had gone completely over the edge._ _ _ _

____She opened the door and found him alone, pleading with Sonny. _This is not an act._ She'd known that before, but now she believed it. "Vinnie?" Her own voice sounded odd to her, small and afraid._ _ _ _

____He turned and looked at her over his shoulder. "Theresa, Susan was here. You've got to listen to me, she's not—" He looked around, and she knew he was searching for the camera._ _ _ _

____Theresa walked over and sat back down. "Your arms hurt from the way they're tied?" she asked loudly, watching Vinnie's face. Understanding bloomed there._ _ _ _

____"Yeah, my whole back's hurtin' here. Can you untie me and take me back to my room?"_ _ _ _

____"Yes, of course." She was undoing his left arm when she saw Susan standing in the doorway._ _ _ _

____"What are you doing?" Her voice had a dreamy, ethereality to it, but somehow its very lack of menace scared Theresa._ _ _ _

____"He can't sleep in this chair all night," she said, moving to his right arm._ _ _ _

____"You can't do that, Mel says he can't be trusted."_ _ _ _

____"He's no danger locked in his room," Theresa said sensibly._ _ _ _

____"Before we take him back, I want you to give him this," Susan said, bringing her hand out from behind her and offering Theresa another syringe. "Tonight he's dreaming about me."_ _ _ _

____"No," Vinnie protested and Theresa put her hand on his knee._ _ _ _

____"Just be quiet." She took the needle and grabbed hold of Vinnie's arm. "Hold still." She put the point to his skin, then put her finger over it, slipping the needle harmlessly between her finger and his arm. She dared a glance at Vinnie, who was staring at her in surprise. _She's going to notice when it starts dripping out all over the place,_ Theresa worried, but a peek at Susan, with her strange, abstracted gaze, told her she wouldn't. _How many times is she going to go there, before she can't come back?__ _ _ _

____Theresa surreptitiously wiped the liquid off Vinnie's arm, then she untied it. "Do you want to help me get him back to bed?"_ _ _ _

____"He's going to dream about me now, isn't he?"_ _ _ _

____Theresa met Vinnie's eyes again. "I'm sure he will."_ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____It was a long night for Vinnie. He knew Susan was watching him, but it was Theresa who was on his mind. _She didn't give me that injection. Why didn't she? Has she finally seen how crazy Susan is? I wish there was some way to talk to her without us being observed._ Vinnie longed for Sonny to talk to. He hadn't felt this simple aching loneliness for him since just after his death._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Theresa spent the night with the blankets pulled up over her head, longing for sleep but hearing Vinnie's words instead. _"C'm'on, you don't really want her offin' me, she's not like that, she just really misses you. Sonny . . . ."_ The blank sincerity of those words just sliced right through her. _He didn't know I was listening. What am I doing; what have I done? If somebody walked in here and had to decide who was crazy, who would they choose? Susan's delusional, of course, but then Vinnie's been talking to Sonny. Is that any saner? And what about what I'm doing? I wanted revenge, but now I don't even know what I'm doing._ She tried to picture looking Vinnie in the face and pulling the trigger, but the image wouldn't come. _Maybe I never did. She was beginning to envy Vinnie and Susan their delusions. I could use someone to tell me what I should do. What difference would it make if that someone wasn't really there? ". . . she just really misses you."_ The loneliness was overwhelming, and for the first time since Sonny's funeral, she wept._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Susan sat with Mel, going back and forth between watching Vinnie sleep and watching that woman toss and turn. Mel liked her plan for getting rid of her, but he said they had to wait until the Martins were all away. Susan could hardly wait for her to be gone so they could be happy again. The knife she held in her hand was gleaming sharp; it would do the job very well. "I love you both so much," she whispered._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

_______At the crack of dawn Theresa found herself suddenly wide awake. For a moment everything seemed fine . . . then it all came back, a tidal wave of dread. Her careful plan had quickly turned into a nightmare. _I've got to find a way out of this while I still can. But first, I need to talk to Vinnie without Susan watching us.__  
  
She has to sleep sometime, Theresa thought and decided there was no time to waste. Dressing quickly, she reached into the nightstand drawer for her gun. But the drawer was empty. 

____Until that moment the precariousness of her situation had been due more to the weirdness and discomfort of it. The gun had been her ace in the hole. But now— _Now I'm in serious trouble. No, **we're** in serious trouble. I'm responsible for Vinnie's safety too; this is my fault and I've got to get both of us out of here. _ She got Vinnie's clothes out of her bottom drawer._ _ _ _

_____Act normal,_ she told herself, and went down the hall to the study. She opened the door and looked inside. Susan was gone, and Theresa was about to close the door when she noticed that the monitor was switched to her own room rather than Vinnie's. _Why is she watching **my** room?_ Angrily she went over and switched it back to Vinnie's. There on the screen she saw Vinnie, sleeping, and Susan sitting on the edge of his bed. "Mel always said I was better at this than he was; he said it was because no one ever expected I could be dangerous. And I'll do what I have to, to keep what's mine. You're mine, Vinnie. We need you, the baby and I. Mel wants you too. And when I've gotten rid of Mrs. Paravin, we can all be happy together."_ _ _ _

_____Lucky you, you're fast asleep,_ Theresa thought as Vinnie slept on, totally oblivious to his visitor. _Who are you dreaming of now? You'd think you were seeing the future, the way we're all obsessed with your dreams._ She watched while Susan rambled on, about the baby, about Mel, about Mrs. Paravin and Tommy Martin. At last she leaned over and kissed Vinnie on the mouth. "I'll be back." Then she stood up, picked up a butcher knife from the bed, and left the room._ _ _ _

____Theresa switched the monitor back and waited, but Susan didn't return to the study. _Finally!_ She hurried down to Vinnie's room._ _ _ _

____"Vinnie," she whispered, taking his shoulders and shaking him. "Wake up! Vinnie!"_ _ _ _

____"What do you want?" Vinnie asked sleepily._ _ _ _

____"Who's Mrs. Paravin?"_ _ _ _

____"Go 'way," Vinnie answered, and rolled over with his back to her._ _ _ _

____She wanted to slap him, but while that might wake him up, she doubted it would make him listen to her. "Wake up! Vinnie!" She had to do something, so she went around to the other side, grabbed him by the shoulders, and shook him, hard. "Who is Mrs. Paravin?"_ _ _ _

____He opened his eyes, looking at her suspiciously. "You here to drug me up so you can start hittin' me again?"_ _ _ _

____She shook him again. "We don't have much time! Who is Mrs. Paravin?"_ _ _ _

____This time he really seemed to see her. "She was one of Susan's teachers. She thought Mel and Susan should be separated."_ _ _ _

____"What happened to her?"_ _ _ _

____"Nothing happened to her. She had to have her car fixed, since somebody cut her gas line. Probably going for the brake line."_ _ _ _

____"Someone tried to kill her?"_ _ _ _

____"Yeah, someone tried to kill her. Mel did it, but it was Susan's idea. Like I keep trying to tell you, she's nuts." Vinnie closed his eyes again, looking resigned._ _ _ _

____"Come on, we have to get out of here."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie was watching her again, suspicion all over his face. "Yeah, where we goin'?"_ _ _ _

____"Away from here. Come on!" She grabbed hold of his arm and pulled, dragging him to his feet. "Here, put your clothes on, I'll get the car keys."_ _ _ _

____"What's the problem? You've got a gun, why don't you just—"_ _ _ _

____"She took my gun. Now start moving!"_ _ _ _

____It took him a second that, to Theresa, felt like a month, but then he hurriedly began putting on his clothes._ _ _ _

____Satisfied that Vinnie was following her instructions, Theresa turned to leave but Susan was standing in the doorway, blocking her path._ _ _ _

____"What are you doing?"_ _ _ _

____"I was talking to him," Theresa answered, keeping her eyes on the knife in Susan's hand._ _ _ _

____"Why?"_ _ _ _

____"That's what we've got him here for, isn't it?" Theresa smiled, trying to keep her voice calm and reasonable._ _ _ _

____"I want you to go back to your room," Susan responded, her tone grim._ _ _ _

_____Stay cool. Just stay cool._ "All right." _Don't back down; that's the worst thing you can do._ And she waited while Susan moved out of her way._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Vinnie watched Susan close the door behind Theresa, feeling like his last hope was being flushed down the toilet. He had a fleeting thought of jumping Susan, but he still felt as if he was moving his body by remote control. His head was clearer now, but the last few days had left him wrung out so he slumped back down on the bed._ _ _ _

____Susan came and sat next to him. He caught a whiff of something familiar and out of place. _Gasoline? What—?_ But then Susan was talking to him and he needed to give her his full concentration._ _ _ _

____"What did she want? What were you talking about?" There was dark, insane jealousy in those beautiful eyes._ _ _ _

____Vinnie shrugged, making his voice unconcerned. "To talk about Sonny, what else?"_ _ _ _

____"I don't want you talking to her."_ _ _ _

____"Hey, no problem. Do me a favor an' keep her outta here, will ya?"_ _ _ _

____"Mel doesn't like her."_ _ _ _

____"Mel's right. You ought'a send her packing."_ _ _ _

____"It's too dangerous to let her leave; who knows what she might tell Mr. and Mrs. Martin? But don't worry, she'll be gone before we go to be with Mel." She touched his cheek, then got up and left the room, locking him in._ _ _ _

_____Go to be with Mel? Gasoline—oh, shit—_ Vinnie ran to the door, knowing that what he was doing was dangerous, but what were his choices? He pounded on the door, shouting for Theresa, trying to figure out what he'd do if Susan came back._ _ _ _

____A couple of minutes later Theresa's voice snapped from the other side. "What are you yelling about?"_ _ _ _

____"Get me the hell out of here!"_ _ _ _

____"I can't find the keys," Theresa called back. "I've been searching the study—"_ _ _ _

_____Dammit, dammit, dammit!_ "Move back from the door, I'm going to break it down."_ _ _ _

____"Vinnie, you'll kill yourself, this door's solid oak! Let me go check her room!"_ _ _ _

____"What'm I supposed to do, sit here and wait for it to burn down?"_ _ _ _

____"What?"_ _ _ _

____"Theresa, there's no time, we've gotta get out of this house!"_ _ _ _

____"Just be quiet, I'll be right back."_ _ _ _

____"She's gonna set the place on fire!"_ _ _ _

____"What?"_ _ _ _

____"Just move away from the door!" Fruitless as it seemed, he was going to throw himself at the door, but then the overstuffed chair in the corner caught his eye. He grabbed it, and letting his adrenaline take over, heaved it at the door. It splintered the wood, though the hole it made wasn't big enough for him to climb through. He started to rip out the broken pieces when the door shook under heavy blows from the other side._ _ _ _

____He didn't know what Theresa was hitting it with, but between the two of them they eventually managed to make a big enough space for Vinnie to crawl through._ _ _ _

____Theresa was leaning against the wall, panting. The hallway reeked of gasoline fumes. "She's down there splashing gasoline all over the place. One spark," she gasped, and she didn't need to elaborate._ _ _ _

____"Can we get out through a window?"_ _ _ _

____She shook her head. "None of them open, they all have bars. We have to go down." He started for the stairs he'd been brought up but Theresa grabbed his arm. "She's right down there. We'll use the back stairs."_ _ _ _

____To Vinnie it felt like walking through a minefield, following Theresa; he had no idea where he was or where she was taking him. But if he couldn't trust her, he might just as well have stayed locked in that room._ _ _ _

____Down the hall, down the stairs, Susan's voice, high and fragile, singing a lullaby, followed them. Theresa glanced back at him and Vinnie could read her thoughts clearly; Susan's insanity was more frightening than the danger they were in. The smell of gasoline intensified the closer they got to the ground floor. _Through the kitchen, through the back door, to freedom—__ _ _ _

____The kitchen floor seemed to shimmer with gasoline. Theresa grabbed the doorknob, twisted, but the knob didn't move, the door didn't yield to her push. She brushed the homey flower print curtains aside to display a window as closely barred as the ones upstairs._ _ _ _

____"Dammit!" She hit the door with the palm of her hand. "More Profitt paranoia!"_ _ _ _

____"Where are you going?" Susan asked from the stairs behind them. Neither of them turned around until they heard the safety click off the .38. Vinnie wasn't as afraid of being shot in the back as he was of being blown to bits._ _ _ _

____Susan's hair was dripping gasoline, patches of her dress were sodden with it. In her left hand she held the gun. In the right was something small and shiny. "I borrowed your cigarette lighter."_ _ _ _

_____"I wish you'd quit; those things are gonna kill you,"_ he heard Frank say, and hysterical laughter blossomed in his throat._ _ _ _

____"We have to get out of here," Theresa whispered, sounding so panicked Vinnie wondered if she even knew she'd spoken._ _ _ _

____"Susan, that's not fair," Vinnie said, wondering at the calm of his own voice. "You haven't let me be a part of any of this. It's my lighter; let me light it." He started toward her carefully, his knees trembling._ _ _ _

____"Don't," Susan said._ _ _ _

____"Don't," Theresa whispered in echo._ _ _ _

____Vinnie held out his hand._ _ _ _

____"You lied to me," Susan said, backing up a step._ _ _ _

____"When?" He took another step toward her._ _ _ _

____"When you told me you loved me." She gestured at Theresa with the gun. "She told me it was all a lie."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie shrugged that off. "She's just ticked off because of Sonny. But Sonny never meant anything to me." With every step forward he took, she backed up another, retreating into the darkness._ _ _ _

____"You dreamed of him," she accused._ _ _ _

_____Don't defend yourself,_ he scolded himself, and went on the offensive. "What do you dream about?" Susan was at the top of the stairs now, moving toward the wall._ _ _ _

____"All of us here, together, happy. But you lied to me."_ _ _ _

____"Let me prove myself. Give me the lighter." He was at the top of the stairs and Susan's back was to the wall. He didn't move any closer, but kept his hand out._ _ _ _

____Susan held the hand with the lighter in it behind her, like a little girl with stolen candy._ _ _ _

____"If you don't let me do this, you'll never trust me," Vinnie pleaded. "Mel will never trust me. Let me do this."_ _ _ _

____After a moment she brought it out and put it in his hand. "All right, darling." And without his asking, she gave him the gun as well._ _ _ _

____Vinnie was at a loss for just what to do— _arrest her! Yeah, right . . ._ when she put her arm around his waist, leaning her head against his chest._ _ _ _

____"We're going to be so happy here. I'll cook you breakfast every morning and while you eat, I'll feed the baby."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie's skin crawled at this, but he put his arm around her and pulled her close, taking her down the steps._ _ _ _

____He was relieved to see that Theresa had taken the opportunity to get out. But Susan pulled away from him a bit, looking around, her face becoming frantic. "Where is she?"_ _ _ _

____"She's gone," Vinnie soothed, shepherding her through the kitchen to the dining room._ _ _ _

____"No, we have to stop her!" She was struggling, but Vinnie kept hold of her._ _ _ _

____"Let's go outside, maybe she's out there."_ _ _ _

____"No! We can't go out there, it's not safe!" Susan's struggling became more violent as they reached the front door, and Vinnie was beginning to think he was going to lose her._ _ _ _

____"Theresa! Where are you? I need some help!" He managed to get the front door open and haul Susan out._ _ _ _

____She was incoherent now, whimpering and calling for Mel._ _ _ _

____He didn't know where she'd been, but in the next minute Theresa was there, helping him hold Susan, pull her toward the car. "Where are those handcuffs?" he yelled._ _ _ _

____Before Theresa could respond, Susan broke free and ran for the house. "Susan!" Vinnie went after her, but before he could catch her she had slammed the door and locked it._ _ _ _

____Theresa was pulling his arm, dragging him away. "Vinnie, there's nothing you can do—"_ _ _ _

____"I've got to get in there—" He went back, pounding on a window, knowing even if he broke the glass the bars would keep him out. Theresa's hands were on his wrists, trying to keep him from putting his fists through the glass. _Never happen; it's bulletproof . . ._ but his fists wouldn't stop._ _ _ _

____The scream paralyzed them both; they stood staring at each other, seeing death in each other's faces. Inside the securely locked and bolted house the screaming went on and on, and through the window they could see the malicious yellow flames charging from the kitchen through the south parlor. The screaming was joined by the happy sounds of a campfire. _If only we had marshmallows . . . .__ _ _ _

____Theresa seemed to be fainting; she was leaning against Vinnie as if she couldn't support herself. _Tough as nails, yeah, sure, but if I could I'd faint right now too. Anything to get away from this place._ The screams died away and the crackling, burning sound took over. "Shh, shh, it's all right." He put his arm around her and led her over to a soft, shady spot under a large maple tree._ _ _ _

____*_ _ _ _

____Theresa found herself sitting in the grass under a tree, her head throbbing, her whole body trembling. "I can't believe— Why did she do that?" She looked around, the burning house incongruous in the glorious, tranquil surroundings._ _ _ _

____"She wanted to be with Mel."_ _ _ _

____That didn't make any sense. "Mel's dead."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie nodded. "Yeah. I don't think I can explain it. You had to be there."_ _ _ _

____Theresa was trying to make sense of it. "She was fine when I first met her. I don't understand how this could've happened."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie was shaking his head. "She wasn't fine. She was never fine after she OD'd Mel. And she wasn't gonna get any better."_ _ _ _

____The guilt was wrapping around her like a boa constrictor. It felt wrong to be sitting here in the warm summer air, being alive when Susan had been alive just moments ago. "I shouldn't've have left her alone. She'd still be alive."_ _ _ _

____"You had no way of knowing that."_ _ _ _

____Something he'd said didn't make sense. "I thought she loved her brother?"_ _ _ _

____Vinnie shrugged. "What she told me was that Mel asked her to do it. I can believe it, she always shot him up when he needed it. Then she gave him a Viking funeral." His eyes were on the house, watching the flames consume it._ _ _ _

____"Viking funeral?" Theresa asked, more confused than ever._ _ _ _

____"Yeah, you know. Put him in a rowboat, set the boat on fire. No dog, though." He sounded ironic, detached, but Theresa could see the suffering in his face and realized that irony was keeping his emotions in check._ _ _ _

____"Then that's how you knew what she was planning?" Things were coming together slowly._ _ _ _

____"Yeah. Gasoline plus going to be with Mel always comes up with the same answer."_ _ _ _

____"And she was going to take you with her." The implications of this sickened her. "I could've gotten you killed."_ _ _ _

____"You too," Vinnie agreed. "Only you were going because she thought you were one of those people who tried to keep her from Mel. There's no point blaming yourself."_ _ _ _

____That seemed to her an utterly moronic thing to say. "I'm the one who started this."_ _ _ _

____"That depends how far back you wanna go." Something in the house crashed and they both turned to look at it. Flames were consuming it a frightening pace. "You didn't plan for it to end this way," Vinnie continued. "What **were** you planning, anyway?"_ _ _ _

____His amused tone startled Theresa. "I knew what I wanted to do when I started. I wanted you dead, to see you suffer. But now everything's gone wrong."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie took her hand. "You can't blame yourself. Your plans just didn't work out. Believe me, I know how that feels."_ _ _ _

____Theresa didn't know what to say. The way he cavalierly dismissed her saying she'd planned to kill him seemed strangely familiar._ _ _ _

____"You want to know what happened that night?" he asked. "How it all went wrong? How badly **I** screwed up?"_ _ _ _

____All she could do was nod._ _ _ _

____"I knew about the hit, but what was supposed to happen was everybody'd get busted before it went down. I didn't know Aldo was involved it all; I didn't think Sonny had any way of finding out."_ _ _ _

____"Sonny always could find out things," Theresa whispered._ _ _ _

____Vinnie laughed shortly. "Yeah, couldn't he? It was a foolproof plan. I was gonna get Mahoney and Patrice, and Sonny'd wind up with just a light sentence. Only Sonny found out about the hit and we ended up with a videotape of him killing Patrice." He closed his eyes, but not before she saw the horror reflected there._ _ _ _

____"I tried to find out what happened, but they wouldn't tell me anything."_ _ _ _

____At that he opened his eyes, meeting hers. "'Course not. The whole thing was a huge embarrassment; the coup de gras turned into a public relations nightmare with no convictions. You want the rest of it, at the theater?" So casually he offered her what she'd been willing to kill for._ _ _ _

____"Please. If we'd been married I'd have some rights, but an ex-fiancee means nothing to them."_ _ _ _

____"Wouldn't matter who you were, they wouldn'ta told you. Some of it they couldn't tell you because I never told them." The way he said it made her heart race. "Once the party was over an' it was just the two of us . . . I was sick; I just wanted it to be over. I'd just watched him murder Patrice and it was easy to hate him, but I knew it wouldn't stay easy and I wanted out of there before I let myself forget._ _ _ _

____"Sonny wanted an explanation, why hadn't I told him? At first I thought he was gonna kill me, but he was just gonna send me away." He looked at her directly, and she knew what he meant, what this meant. "Then Aldo called to say that there were cops on the way, an' Sonny figured it out an' took off. And I chased him._ _ _ _

____"We ended up locked in the movie theater, fighting mostly, then talking, then—" His sudden silence and the look on his face—longing, and hunger, and something else—told her what else they had done plainer than words. "You gotta understand, we'd both been drinking. We weren't thinking clearly. And we were having this argument. Theresa, it was stupid and I don't really have an excuse. He was going on about the case against him being no big deal and I just got pissed off and told him about the tape. I think that's why he did it."_ _ _ _

____At first Theresa had thought that he was talking about them _making love, making love, that's what it was,_ and even though she knew that they had, her mind rebelled. But then she realized that no, it was Sonny's death Vinnie was talking about. She took a deep breath. "What do you mean, 'why he did it'? Did what?"_ _ _ _

____Vinnie's look was glazed, desperate; he was reliving it all right there before her eyes. "You know how he was. The cops were breaking down the door and he felt trapped. He put his hand in the fusebox."_ _ _ _

____It was just like when they'd come to tell her about Sonny's death: the whole world seemed to dim and her mind lost contact with her body for just a few seconds. Then the light was back and everything looked just the way it had before—and nothing was the same._ _ _ _

____"It's my fault, I know that," he went on, but Theresa cut him off. He had to tell her the truth and this couldn't be it._ _ _ _

____"This doesn't make sense. Sonny never gave up about anything. You must be wrong."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie shook his head. "Neither one of us was thinking clearly. He started talking about getting the death penalty, and at the moment it really seemed like that was the only possible outcome. It was like we had tunnel vision, and there was no light at the end of it."_ _ _ _

____"And he'd rather kill himself?" Theresa didn't believe it._ _ _ _

____"Than let them do it? Yeah."_ _ _ _

____Well, that was true, but beside the point. "They wouldn't have," she said reasonably. "His lawyers would've seen to that."_ _ _ _

____He nodded, his expression resigned. "I know they wouldn't. **Now** I know it. But in that auditorium, I believed it as much as he did."_ _ _ _

____An ache was starting somewhere behind her breastbone, spreading like the fire, destroying her the way the fire was destroying the house. "How could he do this to me? All this time I've been driving myself crazy, not knowing what happened. I thought Sonny loved me. Now you tell me he wasn't taken from me, he just left . . . ."_ _ _ _

____"He did love you!" Vinnie protested. "This didn't have anything to do with you!"_ _ _ _

_____Nothing to do with me? There wasn't anything in my life that had nothing to do with Sonny._ "I would have helped him, Dad could've too. Even before we got engaged, Sonny was like a son to him." _I haven't cried since the funeral,_ Theresa thought, brushing away the tears that had started. _Now I can't seem to stop._ "How could you do this?" she demanded of Sonny. "I loved you all my life and you left me." _ _ _ _

____"He loved you, too. He told me how much he loved you."_ _ _ _

____Theresa knew his words were meant to comfort, but she couldn't feel them. "You know what the hardest part is? I can't even remember what it was like any more. I can tell you what we did, but I can't remember what it felt like when we were together. It's all gone."_ _ _ _

____Vinnie nodded. "I remember in dreams, but when I wake up it's gone."_ _ _ _

____Jealousy spiked her heart. "That's more than I have."_ _ _ _

____"You don't know how sorry I am."_ _ _ _

____"I miss him so much." The words meant nothing, not his words, not her own, but Theresa had to say them._ _ _ _

____"Me too." He put his arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder, finding a little tangible comfort there. "You know, I think you did me a favor."_ _ _ _

____She pulled away to look at him, sure she must have heard him wrong. "I locked you up, drugged you and was ready to kill you. How did I do you a **favor**?"_ _ _ _

____Vinnie smiled ironically. "Well, it's not exactly how I would have chosen it. But I feel like I can think about him again, you know? I can't talk to anybody about how I feel."_ _ _ _

____She understood what he meant. "I guess the OCB wouldn't go for something like that."_ _ _ _

____"Nope. Or my family, either."_ _ _ _

____"Mine's gone except for Mom and she doesn't talk anymore."_ _ _ _

____"Sounds like we're in the same boat."_ _ _ _

____"In some ways I miss her more than my father or Aldo and she's right there with me. It's like living with a ghost. She could always tell about me and Sonny. When I was still in high school, Dave and he would come over to see Dad and stay for dinner."_ _ _ _

____"Yeah?" Vinnie sounded genuinely interested, so Theresa went on._ _ _ _

____"I knew he was too old for me, but I couldn't help myself. Sonny was always so much more exciting than the guys at school."_ _ _ _

____"Yeah," Vinnie agreed, his tone empathetic._ _ _ _

____"Aldo gave me a hard time, said there's no way a guy like Sonny would look twice at me. But Mom understood . . . . She was so happy about the wedding." Theresa shifted around, leaning back against his chest. "Can I tell you something? Something no one else knows?" The sad emptiness of that made her want to share with him even more._ _ _ _

____"I think we know each other well enough," Vinnie answered seriously._ _ _ _

____"When I was sent upstairs after dinner and my father and Sonny and Dave would talk in the living room, I'd sneak down to where I could hear. I didn't care what they were talking about, I just wanted to listen. One time I went down the stairs a little further than usual, so I could see, too. For a long time nobody noticed me. Then I must have moved or something because Sonny saw me. He didn't say anything, but something in his expression changed just enough to let me know he knew I was there. And he knew I was there because of him. He never said a word, never treated me any differently. Up 'til then I'd just had a crush on him, but right then it became more."_ _ _ _

____"He loved you," Vinnie said again. "He never used those words, but when he talked about you—" He shrugged._ _ _ _

____"I know he loved me. I wouldn't have married him without knowing it."_ _ _ _

____"Why were you going to, knowing about us?" Vinnie's voice was low and intimate in her ear._ _ _ _

____"I can give you the list I made myself. First off, I loved him."_ _ _ _

____"Good reason," Vinnie agreed._ _ _ _

____"And I was sure he loved me. We've been friends for a long time. We want the same kind of life."_ _ _ _

____"And what about me?"_ _ _ _

____"I considered you a threat for a while. Then I started seeing you as an asset."_ _ _ _

____"An asset?" Vinnie asked, sounding amused and disbelieving._ _ _ _

____"Yes, an asset. For one thing, I realized you'd have a much better reason for keeping Sonny safe than anyone else would." She could feel him laughing. "And I never expected he'd be totally faithful, but I figured you could help keep him in line." The laughter got stronger. "And one other thing."_ _ _ _

____"What's that?"_ _ _ _

____Theresa shifted away from him so she could turn around and see him. "I like you." She found it easier to say than she would have imagined._ _ _ _

____Vinnie smiled. "I like you too. I did from the first. You think you can walk to the car?"_ _ _ _

____"I think so." She looked over at the ruined house. "You think the fire will spread?"_ _ _ _

____"Doesn't look like it. We'll get to a pay phone and call the fire department."_ _ _ _

____"And then what?" Theresa knew there would be repercussions; had known all along what she was risking, abducting a federal agent with the intent of murdering him. But she didn't care; this talking with Vinnie was getting her Sonny back._ _ _ _

____Vinnie got to his feet. "I don't think either of us is up to driving all the way back to the city. Why don't I drive the first half, we stop for some dinner, then you drive the rest of the way?" He held out his hands to help her up._ _ _ _

____For a moment she just stood there, holding his hands. "Is that what you do with everyone you arrest?"_ _ _ _

____"My superiors say I'm not very good a following procedure," Vinnie said, looking down at her hands. When he looked back up, his gaze was direct. "I think they're right."_ _ _ _

____"Any ideas how we're going to get out of here?"_ _ _ _

____"Oh, sure. I'm gonna hotwire your car." Vinnie let go of her hands and started toward it. Theresa followed him._ _ _ _

____"You sure you know how to do this?" He was leaning under the steering wheel. She heard a short laugh, then the engine started. He straightened up and looked at her. "C'm'on, get in. "_ _ _ _

____She went around and got in the car next to him. As they drove away, talking about the good times they'd each had with Sonny, Theresa started to smile, the old feelings inside beginning to warm her again. She'd lost them for a long time, but thanks to Vinnie she'd finally gotten her Sonny back. And this time she knew she'd never lose him again. Theresa began laughing._ _ _ _

____"What's so funny?"_ _ _ _

____"It just occurred to me," she said, grinning at him and feeling better than she'd felt in a long time, " . . .what would Sonny say if he could see us now?"_ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> Killa started this round-robin and I jumped in with both feet. They gave me the ending to write—Susan was supposed to shoot Vinnie—but even though I wrote it twice, she always gave him the gun.
> 
> And once again, even though I would have sworn Roger and Vinnie didn't sleep together, they did.


End file.
